Molise · Campobasso
Ferrazzano
A hilltop borgo at 872 meters above Campobasso, called the Sentinel of Molise, where Robert De Niro's great-grandparents lived before sailing in 1887.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Ferrazzano is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 2 h 20 min from Pescara
- Population
- 3,435
- J7°
- F10°
- 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
Ferrazzano sits on a ridge at 872 meters, five kilometers south of Campobasso, with a long view over the Biferno valley that gave it the nickname Sentinella del Molise. The Samnites lived on this hill before Rome, and Sulla's troops built a garrison here during the Social Wars; houses rose around it and the medieval village took shape. By the twelfth century the fief belonged to Riccardo Camarda, then to the Giniaco and Sangro families, finally to the Carafa, who built the stone castle with two round towers in the sixteenth century.
The De Niro family of Hollywood comes from these fieldstone row houses: Giovanni Di Niro and Angelina Mercurio sailed from Ferrazzano in 1887 and the immigration office at Ellis Island recorded their name as De Niro. The hills around the village have produced olive oil long enough that the commune carries the Città dell'Olio mark.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 2 h 21 min by car.
Bari (BRI) is about 2 h 57 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 2 h 20 min, Salerno 2 h 25 min or Naples 2 h 26 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Carafa
Sixteenth-century Carafa castle with two round towers at the top of the village, later owned by the family of the actor Totò.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Parish church on the main square, the religious center of the medieval village.
Centro storico
Stone row houses with clay-tile roofs along the ridge, the Sentinel-of-Molise quarter that grew up around the Sulla-era garrison.
Belvedere
Lookout at 872 meters with a panorama over Campobasso, the Biferno valley, and the Matese in the distance.
Living here
Could you live here?
Ferrazzano is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 3,435, with Campobasso (47,547 people) 9 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Campobasso, a city of 47,547, is 7 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 3,435, up 4.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Campobasso, 7 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Campobasso, 4 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €650 to €950 per m² to buy, €3.00 to €4.00 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 88% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 2 h 21 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Campobasso, 7 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Argentina, Romania and Nigeria, against 9% across Italy. There are 215 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 24% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Campobasso province ranks 73rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Campobasso, 4 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Benevento, 44 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Benevento, 44 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 185 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 81 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, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.6% 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 Molise spends about €2,050 a month, €570 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €274 a year for water, on the Molise 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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 4% in a high or medium one. 21% 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
DE NIRO
Giovanni Di Niro and Angelina Mercurio, Robert De Niro's great-grandparents, emigrated from Ferrazzano in 1887.
CASTELLO CARAFA
Sixteenth-century stone castle with two round towers, later owned by the family of the comic actor Totò.
OLIVE OIL
Hills around the village have produced extra virgin olive oil long enough that the commune carries the Città dell'Olio designation.
Common questions
- What is Ferrazzano known for?
- Ferrazzano is a hilltop borgo at 872 meters above Campobasso, called the Sentinel of Molise, where Robert De Niro's great-grandparents lived before sailing in 1887.
- Where is Ferrazzano?
- Ferrazzano is a comune in the province of Campobasso, in Molise.
- What is the nearest airport to Ferrazzano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 2 h 21 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Ferrazzano?
- About 2 h 20 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Ferrazzano?
- 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 Ferrazzano?
- Ripalimosani, Teglio and Spezzano della Sila.
- How many people live in Ferrazzano?
- 3,435 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Ferrazzano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Ferrazzano is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Campobasso, 9 min). The nearest city, Campobasso, is 7 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Campobasso, 4 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 88% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 872 m
- Population: 3,435
- Surface area: 16.77 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 Ferrazzano
What all six share with Ferrazzano: mountain-valley towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
Ferrazzano is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Ferrazzano comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 201 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.