Puglia · Foggia
Faeto
The highest village in Puglia, Franco-Provençal-speaking since 1266.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Faeto is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 58 min from Salerno
- Population
- 609
- J7°
- F9°
- M10°
- A13°
- M18°
- J24°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N12°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Faeto lies fifty kilometers west of Foggia on the regional border with Campania, set on a Monti Dauni ridge. Together with its three-kilometer neighbor Celle di San Vito it forms the only Franco-Provençal linguistic minority in southern Italy, recognized by Italian law 482 of 1999. The dialect, known locally as faetano, descends from Provençal colonists settled in the Daunia by Charles I of Anjou after his victory at Benevento in 1266; he stationed garrisons in the strategic highlands and the colonists held. It is still used in daily conversation by an aging population of 609 residents.
Monte Cornacchia rises just north of the village, and old sheep tracks climb to it through beech forest, linking the settled ridge to the wild high ground above it. The municipal salume, prosciutto di Faeto, is cured at altitude and sold across the province as the high-mountain Puglian cured ham. A garrison outpost, a surviving minority language, and a cured meat named for the place: what remains at Faeto is the trace of a thirteenth-century military decision, still spoken and still eaten.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 2 h 1 min by car.
Bari (BRI) is about 2 h 16 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 1 h 58 min, Naples 2 h 5 min or Bari 2 h 19 min.
Coming by train into Foggia? Faeto is about 54 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico
Stone village with narrow stepped streets organized around the parish church, the highest such center in the region.
Chiesa Madre di San Salvatore
Parish church in the upper village, the religious anchor where the patronal feast is celebrated and faetano hymns are still sung.
Monte Cornacchia
Beech forest and old sheep tracks climb from the village edge toward the peak just to the north, the highest ground in the region.
Belvedere sui Monti Dauni
Panoramic edge of the village looking across the Daunia ridges toward Campania, with the Tavoliere haze visible to the east on clear days.
Living here
Could you live here?
Faeto is at the end of the road.
- A village of 609. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Ariano Irpino, is 33 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Foggia, a city of 145,198, is 58 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 609, down 4.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Foggia, 58 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Ariano Irpino, 18 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €300 to €450 per m² to buy, €1.20 to €1.80 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 99% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 2 h 1 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bari, 2 h 19 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, against 9% across Italy. There are 219 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 78% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Foggia province ranks 98th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Ariano Irpino, 18 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Benevento, 37 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Benevento, 37 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 231 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 95 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.86% 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. 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 Puglia spends about €1,500 a month, €440 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €545 a year for water, on the Puglia average.
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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 97% 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
FRANCO-PROVENÇAL
With Celle di San Vito the only Franco-Provençal linguistic minority in southern Italy, descended from Angevin colonists settled in 1266.
HIGHEST IN PUGLIA
At 820 meters the highest village in the region, below Monte Cornacchia, the cool mountain counterpoint to the coastal trulli.
PROSCIUTTO DI FAETO
Mountain-cured pork ham aged at altitude in the village curing rooms, sold across the province as the high-altitude Puglian salume.
Common questions
- What is Faeto known for?
- Faeto is the highest village in Puglia, Franco-Provençal-speaking since 1266.
- Where is Faeto?
- Faeto is a comune in the province of Foggia, in Puglia, at 820 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Faeto?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 2 h 1 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Faeto?
- About 1 h 58 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Faeto?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Faeto?
- Roseto Valfortore, Celle di San Vito and Letino.
- How many people live in Faeto?
- 609 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Faeto a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Faeto is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Ariano Irpino, is 33 min away. The nearest city, Foggia, is 58 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Ariano Irpino, 18 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 99% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 820 m
- Population: 609
- Surface area: 26.1 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.
Similar
Towns like Faeto
What all six share with Faeto: mountain-valley towns · under 1,000 people
Roseto Valfortore
Province: Foggia
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Celle di San Vito
Province: Foggia
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Letino
Province: Caserta
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Castel San Vincenzo
Province: Isernia
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Pizzone
Province: Isernia
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Preci
Province: Perugia
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