Marche · Macerata
Macerata
The provincial capital between the Chienti and Potenza, home to Italy's oldest university and the Sferisterio open-air opera arena.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Macerata is on our list
It holds Città della Terra Cruda.
Subscribe and you get Macerata's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 58 min from Ancona
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 40,585
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J31°
- A31°
- S25°
- 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
Macerata sits on a hilltop between the Chienti and Potenza valleys, thirty-five kilometers south of Ancona. The Roman Helvia Recina stood on the plain below; after the city was destroyed by the Goths the survivors moved up to the present site, where the town grew into the provincial capital. The University, founded in 1290, is one of the oldest in continuous operation in Europe.
The Sferisterio, the city's signature monument, is a 100-meter neoclassical arena designed by Ireneo Aleandri in 1823, originally built for pallone col bracciale, the bracelet-ball game once played across central Italy. From 1921, when Verdi's Aida was first staged there, it became one of Italy's principal open-air opera venues. The Macerata Opera Festival runs through July and August.
The provincial museum holds works by Carlo Crivelli, Lorenzo Lotto and Antonio Canova. The 2016 earthquakes damaged outlying frazioni but the centro storico held.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 1 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 6 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 58 min, Pescara 1 h 45 min or Perugia 1 h 47 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Sferisterio
Neoclassical 100-meter open-air arena designed by Ireneo Aleandri in 1823, originally built for pallone col bracciale, now seat of the Macerata Opera Festival since 1921.
Università di Macerata
Founded in 1290, one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe, with its main rectorate on Piazza della Libertà.
Piazza della Libertà
Main square of the centro storico, holds the Loggia dei Mercanti, the Palazzo del Comune and the Torre dei Tempi with its astronomical clock.
Musei Civici di Palazzo Buonaccorsi
Civic museums in an eighteenth-century palazzo, with the Pinacoteca, the Museo della Carrozza and the Galleria Eneide of Persio Flacco.
Duomo di Macerata
Eighteenth-century cathedral with an unfinished brick facade, holds the relics of San Giuliano, patron saint of the city.
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.
Signore te ne ringraziRistorante
Signore te ne ringrazi carries two Gambero Rosso forks (85/100), a place in L'Espresso's Top 300, plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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?
Macerata is a city.
- A city of 40,585 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive away.
- A station of its own, so the rest of Italy is a train ride away.
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 40,585, down 5% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €800 to €1,750 per m² to buy, €4.50 to €11.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- A local hub
- 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
- Ancona airport (AOI), 1 h 1 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Wednesday
- Regional capital Ancona, 58 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
13% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Peru and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 56 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are 245 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 19% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Macerata province ranks 26th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 30 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 30 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 110 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 20 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, with nothing due on income under €8,500. 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 Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche average. In Macerata, the provincial capital, in September 2026, a man's haircut €24.41.
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 medium for floods. 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
SFERISTERIO
The 100-meter neoclassical open-air arena built in 1823, the only such structure in Italy and the seat of the Macerata Opera Festival every July and August.
UNIVERSITY 1290
Founded in 1290 and recognized by Niccolò IV, one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe, with roughly 11,000 students today.
CRIVELLI AND LOTTO
Works by Carlo Crivelli and Lorenzo Lotto hang in the Musei Civici and in churches across the centro storico, from a strong fifteenth and sixteenth-century Marche school.
Common questions
- What is Macerata known for?
- Macerata is the provincial capital at 315 meters between the Chienti and Potenza, home to Italy's oldest university and the Sferisterio open-air opera arena.
- Where is Macerata?
- Macerata is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Macerata?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 1 min by car.
- Can you get to Macerata without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Macerata?
- About 58 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Macerata?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Macerata?
- Spoleto, Foligno and Siena.
- How many people live in Macerata?
- 40,585 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Macerata a good place to live?
- Macerata is a city of 40,585 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 92% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
- Città della Terra Cruda
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 315 m
- Population: 40,585
- Surface area: 92.53 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 Macerata appears in
- The best towns that eat well in the province of MacerataMacerata provinceeats well6 towns · smallest 7,394 residents
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconahill townby trainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 1,648 residents · closest 46 min away
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconaby trainwithin 90 mineats well8 towns · smallest 7,394 residents · closest 28 min away
- The 10 best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconahill townwithin 90 mineats well10 towns · smallest 1,385 residents · closest 42 min away
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarchehill townserious restaurant10 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconawithin 90 minserious restauranteats well10 towns · smallest 3,762 residents · closest 30 min away
Similar
Towns like Macerata
What all six share with Macerata: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
- Written about. No. 87.
Spoleto
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
- Written about. No. 79.
Foligno
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
- Written about. No. 35.
Siena
Province: Siena
both have a railway station in the comune
Velletri
Province: Roma
both have a railway station in the comune
Rovereto
Province: Trento
both have a railway station in the comune
Fermo
Province: Fermo
50 min apart by road
The letter
Macerata 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 Macerata comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Gubbio, 71 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.