Umbria · Perugia
Citerna
A medieval borgo above the upper Tiber valley, holding the only sculpture by Donatello in Umbria.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Citerna is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
The nearest town with a letter is Arezzo, No. 36, 33 min by car.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 3 min from Perugia
- Population
- 3,400
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J31°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Citerna sits on a ridge at the confluence of the Cerfone and Sovara streams, fifty kilometers north of Perugia in the upper Tiber valley. The name comes from the rainwater cisterns hollowed under the town, still walkable through the underground camminamenti that run beneath the medieval streets. Umbrian and Etruscan settlement preceded the Roman finds at San Fista and Pistrino.
In 1221 Citerna swore loyalty to Città di Castello in exchange for protection, then passed to the Vitelli of Città di Castello as a vicariate in the early sixteenth century, and joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 as the first Umbrian town to do so. The Chiesa di San Francesco on Corso Garibaldi holds a polychrome terracotta Madonna by Donatello, dated around 1415, the only work by the sculptor in Umbria, alongside paintings by Pomarancio, Luca Signorelli and Raffaellino del Colle. The view from the ramparts reaches the mountains of La Verna and Gubbio on a clear day.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 2 h 11 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 22 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 3 min, Florence 1 h 31 min or Siena 1 h 39 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? Citerna is about 1 h 6 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Madonna di Donatello
Polychrome terracotta Madonna and Child of around 1415 in the Chiesa di San Francesco, the only sculpture by Donatello in Umbria.
Chiesa di San Francesco
Convent church on Corso Garibaldi with works by Pomarancio, Luca Signorelli, Raffaellino del Colle and a Della Robbia school Madonna.
Camminamenti medievali
Underground walkways and rainwater cisterns hollowed below the streets, the source of the town's name and now open to visit.
Teatro Bontempelli
Small sixteenth-century theater built by the Vitelli family on the eastern edge of the historic core, restored and active.
Torre Civica
Medieval bell tower above the centro storico with a panorama across the upper Tiber to La Verna and the Gubbio mountains.
Living here
Could you live here?
Citerna is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,400. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Città di Castello, is 20 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Arezzo, a city of 96,479, is 33 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 3,400, down 3.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Arezzo, 33 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sansepolcro, 10 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €500 to €720 per m² to buy, €1.90 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 95% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 2 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Perugia, 1 h 3 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and China, against 9% across Italy. There are 206 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 22% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Perugia province ranks 37th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sansepolcro, 10 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Perugia, 46 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Siena, 68 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Assisi International School, 63 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.05% 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 €12,000. 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 Umbria spends about €2,310 a month, €550 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €677 a year for water, on the Umbria average. In Perugia, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.23, a meal in a pizzeria €12.04 and a man's haircut €20.47.
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. 27% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 49% in a high or medium one. 1% 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.
Known for
DONATELLO
Polychrome terracotta Madonna of around 1415 in San Francesco, attributed to Donatello in 2007 and the only one of his works in Umbria.
THE CISTERNS
Underground camminamenti and rainwater cisterns hollowed below the streets gave the town its name; sections are now walkable.
FIRST IN 1860
The first Umbrian town to join the Kingdom of Italy at unification in 1860, ahead of the rest of the region.
Common questions
- What is Citerna known for?
- Citerna is a medieval borgo at 480 meters above the upper Tiber valley, holding the only sculpture by Donatello in Umbria.
- Where is Citerna?
- Citerna is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Citerna?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 2 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Citerna?
- About 1 h 3 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Citerna?
- 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 Citerna?
- Anghiari, Giano dell'Umbria and Città della Pieve.
- How many people live in Citerna?
- 3,400 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Citerna a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Citerna is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Città di Castello, is 20 min away. The nearest city, Arezzo, is 33 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sansepolcro, 10 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 95% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 480 m
- Population: 3,400
- Surface area: 23.53 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 Citerna appears in
- The best hidden towns on a walking route in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceon a walking routehidden8 towns · smallest 426 residents
- The best small towns on a walking route in UmbriaUmbriaon a walking routesmall8 towns · smallest 426 residents
- The prettiest villages on a walking route in UmbriaUmbriaon a walking routeprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 426 residents
- The best hill towns on a walking route within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiahill townon a walking routewithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 2,014 residents · closest 33 min away
- The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 90 minprettiest villagessmall10 towns · smallest 926 residents · closest 27 min away
Near here, with a letter
Similar
Towns like Citerna
What all six share with Citerna: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 40 km away
Umbria: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Umbria guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: Two banks, no sea. 21 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.