Abruzzo · Teramo
Controguerra
A 267-meter hill village whose name is legal shorthand for a small Montepulciano and Trebbiano-Passerina DOC.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Controguerra is on our list
It holds Cittaslow, Città del Vino and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 56 min from Pescara
- Population
- 2,202
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A15°
- M20°
- J25°
- J28°
- A28°
- S24°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The village sits fifteen kilometers from the Adriatic, at the northern edge of Abruzzo, where the valley bends toward the river and the sea. The wine zone that carries the town's name reaches beyond it, spread across five communes sharing the same elbow of land between river and coast. The reds run at least sixty percent Montepulciano, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon allowed up to fifteen percent; the whites are sixty percent Trebbiano with at least fifteen percent Passerina; the spumante sets Trebbiano against Chardonnay, Verdicchio and Pecorino.
The old center holds to its ridge above the valley while the vines and olive groves that support both the wine and oil designations spread on the slopes below, the same ground doing double duty. The place works because the name on the bottle and the name on the map are the same thing, a small hilltop settlement whose slow-food charter governs an area small enough that vineyard and piazza are never far apart.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 24 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 28 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 56 min or Ancona 1 h 20 min.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Controguerra is about 53 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico
Small hilltop medieval center on a ridge above the valley, with brick palazzi and the parish church on the central piazza.
Chiesa di San Salvatore
Parish church on the main piazza, the religious anchor of the medieval ridge village, with a rebuilt eighteenth-century interior.
Cantine del Controguerra DOC
Family cellars open by appointment, pouring Montepulciano-based reds, Trebbiano-Passerina whites and Pecorino spumante from the same slopes the town gives its name to.
Val Vibrata vineyards
Vineyards and olive groves side by side on slopes between 200 and 400 meters, the shared ground behind the Città del Vino and Città dell'Olio designations.
Living here
Could you live here?
Controguerra is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 2,202, with Nereto (5,405 people) 9 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Ascoli Piceno, a city of 45,277, is 26 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 2,202, down 9.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Ascoli Piceno, 26 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sant'Omero, 7 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €600 to €900 per m² to buy, €2.00 to €3.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- 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
- Pescara airport (PSR), 1 h 7 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 15 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from China, Romania and Albania, against 9% across Italy. There are 279 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 27% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Teramo province ranks 68th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sant'Omero, 7 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 84 km away. The nearest IB school is Acorn International School, 148 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 55 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% 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. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 5% 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
CONTROGUERRA DOC
DOC since 1996, Montepulciano-based reds and Trebbiano-Passerina whites across forty hectares in five Val Vibrata communes.
OLIVE OIL
Extra-virgin oil from slopes alongside the DOC vineyards, on the Città dell'Olio route through the Teramo valleys.
CITTASLOW
Member of the Cittaslow network for slow-food and slow-life governance, the only Cittaslow in the upper Val Vibrata.
PRETUZIANO DELLE COLLINE TERAMANE
The commune lies inside the Pretuziano delle Colline Teramane DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Controguerra known for?
- Controguerra is a 267-meter hill village whose name is legal shorthand for a small Montepulciano and Trebbiano-Passerina DOC.
- Where is Controguerra?
- Controguerra is a comune in the province of Teramo, in Abruzzo, at 267 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Controguerra?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 1 h 7 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Controguerra?
- About 56 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Controguerra?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Controguerra?
- Tocco da Casauria, Morino and Vernasca.
- How many people live in Controguerra?
- 2,202 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Controguerra a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Controguerra is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Nereto, 9 min). The nearest city, Ascoli Piceno, is 26 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sant'Omero, 7 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 95% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 267 m
- Population: 2,202
- Surface area: 22.82 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 Controguerra appears in
- The best olive oil towns within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconawithin 90 minolive oil zone6 towns · smallest 2,202 residents · closest 75 min away
- The best towns that live slowly in AbruzzoAbruzzoslow living6 towns · smallest 2,202 residents
- The best small olive oil towns within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescaraolive oilwithin 90 minsmall7 towns · smallest 440 residents · closest 47 min away
- The 8 best small wine towns within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescarawinewithin 90 minsmall8 towns · smallest 440 residents · closest 25 min away
- The best wine towns in AbruzzoAbruzzowinehidden9 towns · smallest 440 residents
Similar
Towns like Controguerra
What all six share with Controguerra: inland, away from the coast · under 3,000 people · hill towns
The letter
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