Tuscany · Siena
Castiglione d'Orcia
A stone borgo at 540 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, with two fortresses guarding the road from Amiata to the Via Francigena.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 41.
The letter
Castiglione d'Orcia got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 20 min from Siena
- Population
- 2,081
- J9°
- F11°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S24°
- O19°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The village stands on a ridge where the land drops toward the Val d'Orcia, the agricultural landscape shaped by Sienese painters and Renaissance estate managers that stretches between Siena and the mountain to the south. First documented in 714, the settlement was then held by the Aldobrandeschi, who built the fortress above the village to hold the medieval road running between the mountain and the Via Francigena, the pilgrim route below. Siena took the town in 1251 and passed control to the Salimbeni and later the Piccolomini, a shift that put a Sienese family in charge of the second fortress on the neighboring outcrop in the frazione of Rocca d'Orcia.
The village center and its outlying frazione form two working parts of one settlement: the walled hill town with its civic square and parish church, and the fortified outcrop a short distance off that once policed the valley approach on its own. The territory is one of three communes sharing the UNESCO inscription, a status that recognizes the whole valley rather than any single settlement within it. What the record shows, across all of it, is a place whose function was always defensive and administrative before it was scenic: two fortresses set to watch one road, a town divided between them, and a landscape that outgrew its original purpose to become the reason people look at it now.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 48 min by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 3 h 3 min away.
By car from the center of Siena 1 h 20 min, Perugia 1 h 42 min or Florence 2 h 4 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca Aldobrandesca
Aldobrandeschi fortress above the village, documented from the eighth century, walls and keep open as an archaeological site.
Rocca a Tentennano
Stronghold on a basalt outcrop in the frazione of Rocca d'Orcia, reached by a climb that still shows the defensive logic of the site, controlling the approach along the valley.
Piazza Vecchietta
Small triangular civic square in the centro storico, the space that carries the painter's adopted name through the village center he left behind.
Pieve dei Santi Stefano e Degna
Romanesque parish church on the main square, holding a fourteenth-century panel of the Madonna by Pietro Lorenzetti.
Val d'Orcia panorama
Continuous view from the ridge over the UNESCO-listed agricultural landscape, with Pienza, Montalcino and Monte Amiata visible on a clear day.
Living here
Could you live here?
Castiglione d'Orcia is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,081. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Montalcino, is 34 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Siena, a city of 52,990, is 1 h 20 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 2,081, down 13.2% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Siena, 1 h 20 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Castel del Piano, 13 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €750 to €1,100 per m² to buy, €2.10 to €3.10 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 76% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 52 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 2 h 4 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Poland, against 9% across Italy. 12 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 469 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 54% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Siena province ranks 21st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Castel del Piano, 13 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Siena, 41 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Siena, 44 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.04% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Tuscany spends about €2,410 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €770 a year for water, on the Tuscany average. In Siena, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €17.81 and a man's haircut €25.49.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 4% in a high or medium one. 18% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Thermal baths in town: La Balena Bianca, Il Bollore, Terme San Filippo.
Known for
VAL D'ORCIA UNESCO
One of three communes that share the 2004 UNESCO listing of the Val d'Orcia cultural landscape between Siena and Monte Amiata.
ROCCA A TENTENNANO
Twelfth-century Salimbeni stronghold in the frazione of Rocca d'Orcia, where Catherine of Siena retired and learned to write in 1377.
IL VECCHIETTA
Painter, sculptor and architect Lorenzo di Pietro, born here around 1410, central figure of fifteenth-century Sienese art.
Common questions
- What is Castiglione d'Orcia known for?
- Castiglione d'Orcia is a stone borgo at 540 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, with two fortresses guarding the road from Amiata to the Via Francigena.
- Where is Castiglione d'Orcia?
- Castiglione d'Orcia is a comune in the province of Siena, in Tuscany.
- What is the nearest airport to Castiglione d'Orcia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 52 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Siena to Castiglione d'Orcia?
- About 1 h 20 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Castiglione d'Orcia?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Castiglione d'Orcia?
- Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina, Chiusdino and Casale Marittimo.
- How many people live in Castiglione d'Orcia?
- 2,081 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Castiglione d'Orcia a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Castiglione d'Orcia is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Montalcino, is 34 min away. The nearest city, Siena, is 1 h 20 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Castel del Piano, 13 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 76% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 540 m
- Population: 2,081
- Surface area: 141.66 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Castiglione d'Orcia appears in
- The best hot spring towns in the province of SienaSiena provincehot springs6 towns · smallest 1,421 residents
- The best small towns on a walking route in the province of SienaSiena provinceon a walking routesmall6 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The best towns with a World Heritage site in the province of SienaSiena provinceWorld Heritage6 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The 8 best hidden hill towns on a walking route in TuscanyTuscanyhill townon a walking routehidden8 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The best hidden towns with a World Heritage site in TuscanyTuscanyWorld Heritagehidden9 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 2 hoursWorld Heritage9 towns · smallest 1,044 residents · closest 33 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 46.
San Quirico d'Orcia
Province: Siena
A walled stop on the Via Francigena at 409 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, where a twelfth-century Collegiata, a Renaissance garden and the Bagno Vignoni thermal pool sit within fifteen kilometers of each other.
16 min by car
- Written about. No. 43.
Montepulciano
Province: Siena
A Renaissance hill town at 605 meters on a limestone ridge, aging its Sangiovese-based red in vaulted cellars beneath the palazzi.
17 km away
- Written about. No. 45.
Radicofani
Province: Siena
The Val d'Orcia's basalt watchtower: a 1,044-resident UNESCO-inscribed borgo at 814m on a volcanic outcrop visible across half of southern Tuscany, crowned by an outlaw's fortress that Dante and Boccaccio both wrote into their pages.
31 min by car
The letter
Castiglione d'Orcia got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.