Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Mercatello sul Metauro
A walled borgo in the upper Metauro, autonomous since 1235, with a pieve exempt from any bishop.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Mercatello sul Metauro is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Bandiera Lilla.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 28 min from Perugia
- Population
- 1,331
- J8°
- F11°
- M12°
- A15°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The upper Metauro valley here sits within the Massa Trabaria, the medieval district that supplied beams for Roman and papal building, and the site itself has older layers still. Etruscans and then Romans held the ground, where it stood between the municipia of Tiferno Metaurense and Tiferno Tiberino under the name Pieve d'Ico. The town became an autonomous commune in 1235 under a bull of Pope Gregory IX, and within fifty years walls had risen around it and the name had changed to Mercatello sul Metauro.
The pieve, exempt from any bishop since 1180 and answering only to the Holy See, sits on the square along with the town hall, forming the axis around which the walled center still reads as a single composition. That square and its buildings earned the borgo its place among the Borghi più belli d'Italia in 2018. What the valley setting, the papal bull, the walls and the exempt pieve add up to is a town whose shape and status were fixed almost in a single generation, tied to a jurisdiction and a building material trade that both reached well beyond its own small perimeter, and have changed little since.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 1 h 47 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 51 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 28 min or Florence 2 h 5 min.
Coming by train into Rimini? Mercatello sul Metauro is about 1 h 29 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Pieve Collegiata dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
Romanesque church whose facade was rebuilt in 1927 on the 1363 plan. Under Holy See dependence its jurisdiction reached forty-seven churches and chapels scattered through the surrounding valley.
Piazza Garibaldi
Main square of the medieval borgo, faced by the pieve, the town hall and the seventeenth-century Palazzo Gasparini.
Mura medievali
Thirteenth-century walls built within fifty years of the 1235 charter, still defining the perimeter of the centro storico.
Convento di Santa Veronica Giuliani
Capuchin convent linked to Santa Veronica Giuliani, the Mercatello-born mystic canonized in 1839, with relics and writings preserved.
Living here
Could you live here?
Mercatello sul Metauro is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,331. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Urbania, is 29 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Urbino, a city of 13,827, is 46 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 1,331, down 4.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Urbino, 46 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sansepolcro, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €540 to €780 per m² to buy, €2.80 to €4.10 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 93% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 29 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 2 h 5 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Pakistan, Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 11 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany. There are 247 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 38% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pesaro e Urbino province ranks 31st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sansepolcro, 17 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Rimini, 46 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 49 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.96% 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 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.
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. 4% 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
NULLIUS DIOECESIS
The Pieve Collegiata held direct dependence on the Holy See from 1180, exempt from any bishop, with jurisdiction over forty-seven churches and chapels.
MASSA TRABARIA
Medieval district that supplied roof beams for Roman and papal building, with Mercatello its administrative center from the thirteenth century.
BORGHI PIÙ BELLI
Joined the network in 2018 for the preserved medieval core, the 1235 walls and the Piazza Garibaldi-Pieve-Palazzo Comunale axis.
Common questions
- What is Mercatello sul Metauro known for?
- Mercatello sul Metauro is a walled borgo at 429 meters in the upper Metauro, autonomous since 1235, with a pieve exempt from any bishop.
- Where is Mercatello sul Metauro?
- Mercatello sul Metauro is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Mercatello sul Metauro?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 29 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Mercatello sul Metauro?
- About 1 h 28 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Mercatello sul Metauro?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Mercatello sul Metauro?
- Esanatoglia, Cantiano and Trequanda.
- How many people live in Mercatello sul Metauro?
- 1,331 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Mercatello sul Metauro a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Mercatello sul Metauro is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Urbania, is 29 min away. The nearest city, Urbino, is 46 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sansepolcro, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 93% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 429 m
- Population: 1,331
- Surface area: 68.36 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 Mercatello sul Metauro appears in
- The 6 best towns you can get around without steps in MarcheMarchestep-free6 towns · smallest 1,331 residents
- The best small hill towns in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoPesaro e Urbino provincehill townsmall7 towns · smallest 1,132 residents
- The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villagessmall7 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 30 min away
- The 8 prettiest villages in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoPesaro e Urbino provinceprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 1,132 residents
- The best small hill towns within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminihill townwithin 90 minsmall9 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 35 min away
- The 10 prettiest villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villages10 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 23 min away
Similar
Towns like Mercatello sul Metauro
What all six share with Mercatello sul Metauro: under 3,000 people · hill towns
Esanatoglia
Province: Macerata
both inland, away from the coast
Cantiano
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
both inland, away from the coast
Trequanda
Province: Siena
both inland, away from the coast
Casperia
Province: Rieti
both inland, away from the coast
Tenno
Province: Trento
both inland, away from the coast
Macerata Feltria
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
39 min apart by road
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 57 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.