Umbria · Perugia
Corciano
A walled medieval castello eight kilometers west of Perugia, where, by tradition, Saint Francis stopped on his way back from a Lent spent fasting on Isola Maggiore.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Corciano is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città del Pane.
The nearest town with a letter is Magione, No. 60, 15 min by car.
Subscribe and you get Corciano's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 16 min from Perugia
- Population
- 21,623
- J10°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A32°
- S26°
- O21°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Corciano sits on a low hill, its walls unbroken and its gate towers still marking where the open country ends and the centro storico begins. Settlement here goes back to the Neolithic, and by 1136 the Castrum Corcianum shows up in a papal bull of Innocent II as one of the possessions of the bishop of Perugia. What a visitor walks through is a medieval shell built over much older ground, the streets inside the walls still following the old castello plan rather than any later grid.
The town's two churches read as a pair of responses to the same passage. Francis came through, by tradition, on his way back from fasting on the island, and the Franciscan church went up to mark it; the parish church nearby holds the painted record of the plague years, the Madonna's cloak spread over a huddle of rooftops that is Corciano itself. Between them, on Piazza Coragino, the communal palace and its neighbor still face each other as the working center of the old commune. What the walls, the gate, and the two churches add up to is a hill town that kept building on top of itself rather than abandoning what came before, so that centuries of foundations, a medieval circuit, and a fifteenth-century painting of the town's own image all still occupy the same small space.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 50 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 32 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 16 min, Siena 1 h 25 min or Florence 1 h 46 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? Corciano is about 13 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Thirteenth-century main parish church near the main square, redone in neoclassical style in 1870. Holds the processional banner showing the Madonna sheltering the town's citizens under her cloak.
Gonfalone della Peste
Painted by Bonfigli for the parish church, the panel sets the town at the foot of the composition, a small huddle of roofs and walls beneath the sheltering cloak.
Porta Santa Maria
Main gate tower of the medieval walls at the northern entrance to the centro storico, still standing and still the way in.
Palazzo dei Priori
Medieval communal palace on Piazza Coragino, alongside the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, the civic center of the old commune.
Chiesa di San Francesco
Gothic former Franciscan church, deconsecrated and now a museum, its bare stone interior kept plain rather than restored to parish use.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Osteria del PostoRistorante
Osteria del Posto carries one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100), plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
AldìvinoRistorante
Aldìvino carries two Gambero Rosso forks (81/100).
Annina LocandaRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (79/100), at Annina Locanda.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Corciano does not meet our one rule for a small town.
- 21,623 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Perugia, a city of 162,050, is 16 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 21,623, up 2.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Perugia, 16 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Perugia, 9 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €890 to €1,350 per m² to buy, €2.90 to €4.60 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 92% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 26 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Perugia, 16 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Ecuador, against 9% across Italy. 62 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are 183 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 11% 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 Perugia, 9 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 80 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Assisi International School, 26 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 at the 2025 rate, 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 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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, under 1% in a high or medium one. Under 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
BONFIGLI'S BANNER
The Gonfalone della Peste, painted by Benedetto Bonfigli in 1472 with the town itself shown at the foot of the Madonna's cloak.
FRANCIS PASSED
By tradition, Saint Francis stopped here on his way back from Lent on Isola Maggiore; the Chiesa di San Francesco was built in memory.
CITTÀ DEL PANE
Carries the bread-town designation; the August Agosto Corcianese festa fills the piazze with choirs and tables of local pane.
Common questions
- What is Corciano known for?
- Corciano is a walled medieval castello at 408 meters eight kilometers west of Perugia, where, by tradition, Saint Francis stopped on his way back from a Lent spent fasting on Isola Maggiore.
- Where is Corciano?
- Corciano is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Corciano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 26 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Corciano?
- About 16 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Corciano?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Corciano?
- Assisi, Magione and Recanati.
- How many people live in Corciano?
- 21,623 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Corciano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Corciano is a small town that does not meet our one rule. The nearest city, Perugia, is 16 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Perugia, 9 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 92% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 408 m
- Population: 21,623
- Surface area: 63.72 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 Corciano appears in
- The 7 best towns with a serious restaurant that sit inside a nature park in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceinside a parkserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 5,312 residents
- The prettiest villages inside a nature park within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiainside a parkwithin 90 minprettiest villages9 towns · smallest 937 residents · closest 19 min away
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in the province of PerugiaPerugia provincehill townserious restaurant10 towns · smallest 1,537 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 60.
Magione
Province: Perugia
A hill town east of Trasimeno built around a medieval Order's fortified base.
15 min by car
- Written about. No. 61.
Passignano sul Trasimeno
Province: Perugia
A near-peninsula on the northern shore of Lake Trasimeno, on the road Hannibal closed when he ambushed the Romans in 217 BC.
21 min by car
- Written about. No. 85.
Panicale
Province: Perugia
A walled hill town at 431 meters on Monte Petrarvella, where a 1505 Perugino fresco covers the back wall of San Sebastiano.
19 km away
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 7 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.