Marche · Macerata
Montecosaro
A walled hilltop borgo above the Chienti valley, with a Romanesque basilica rebuilt in 1125 on the river plain below.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Montecosaro is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Subscribe and you get Montecosaro's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 47 min from Ancona
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 7,394
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Montecosaro sits on a hill above the lower Chienti valley, fifteen kilometers from Macerata and inland from the Adriatic at Civitanova. The first record of a monastery in the river plain dates to 936, when the abbot Ildebrando received the church of Santa Maria from Farfa. The current Basilica di Santa Maria a Piè di Chienti was raised in 1125 by the Lombard abbot Agenolfo, on the left bank a few kilometers from the river mouth: a three-nave Romanesque church with a raised presbytery and a ring of apsidioles, holding among the strongest Cluniac architecture in central Italy.
The hilltop borgo above grew from a medieval castle after 1200, walled in the fourteenth century inside an oval that culminates at the Cassero, the former fortress now a public garden. The Augustinian convent and the church of Sant'Agostino in the upper town date from the same century, rebuilt in the late eighteenth.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 51 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 54 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 47 min or Pescara 1 h 30 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Montecosaro is about 1 h 28 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Basilica di Santa Maria a Piè di Chienti
Romanesque church rebuilt in 1125 by the Lombard abbot Agenolfo on a Farfa monastic foundation of 936, three naves with raised presbytery and apsidioles.
Centro storico
Oval-walled medieval centro storico on the hill, with fourteenth-century walls and concentric streets climbing toward the Cassero.
Cassero
Highest point of the walled borgo, where the medieval fortress once stood, now a public garden with views over the Chienti valley.
Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
Augustinian conventual church built in the mid-thirteenth century and reshaped in the second half of the eighteenth, in the upper part of the town.
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.
Due Cigni RistoranteRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (78/100), at Due Cigni Ristorante.
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?
Montecosaro meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 7,394 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Macerata, a city of 40,585, is 28 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 7,394, up 5.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Macerata, 28 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Civitanova Marche, 4 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €750 to €1,150 per m² to buy, €3.20 to €4.60 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
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 85% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 51 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 47 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Pakistan, China and India, against 9% across Italy. There are 151 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% 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
The nearest emergency room is in Civitanova Marche, 4 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 31 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 31 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 119 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 6 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. 8% 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
PIÈ DI CHIENTI
1125 Romanesque basilica on the river plain below town, rebuilt by the Lombard abbot Agenolfo on a Farfa monastic foundation of 936.
WALLED CENTRO
Oval-walled fourteenth-century borgo on the hilltop, with concentric streets climbing to the Cassero and views over the Chienti valley.
AUGUSTINIAN CONVENT
Mid-thirteenth-century Augustinian settlement founded under Innocent IV and Alexander IV, with the conventual church reshaped in the eighteenth century.
Common questions
- What is Montecosaro known for?
- Montecosaro is a walled hilltop borgo at 267 meters above the Chienti valley, with a Romanesque basilica rebuilt in 1125 on the river plain below.
- Where is Montecosaro?
- Montecosaro is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Montecosaro?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 51 min by car.
- Can you get to Montecosaro 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 Montecosaro?
- About 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montecosaro?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montecosaro?
- Morrovalle, Spello and Trevi.
- How many people live in Montecosaro?
- 7,394 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montecosaro a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montecosaro is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Macerata, is 28 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Civitanova Marche, 4 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 85% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 267 m
- Population: 7,394
- Surface area: 21.88 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 Montecosaro appears in
- The best towns that eat well in the province of MacerataMacerata provinceeats well6 towns · smallest 7,394 residents
- The best hidden hill towns you can reach by train in MarcheMarchehill townby trainhidden7 towns · smallest 1,648 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 8 prettiest villages that eat well in MarcheMarcheeats wellprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 3,625 residents
- The prettiest villages in the province of MacerataMacerata provinceprettiest villages9 towns · smallest 926 residents
Similar
Towns like Montecosaro
What all six share with Montecosaro: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Morrovalle
Province: Macerata
both have a railway station in the comune
Spello
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
- Written about. No. 90.
Trevi
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
Nocera Umbra
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
Candelo
Province: Biella
both have a railway station in the comune
Treia
Province: Macerata
41 min apart by road
The letter
Montecosaro 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 Montecosaro comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Foligno, 86 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.