Calabria · Cosenza
Montegiordano
A 619-meter hill town with a hunting castle and a centro storico turned into a gallery of murals.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Montegiordano is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici, Spighe Verdi and Città del Vino.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 2 h 9 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 1,533
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- O21°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The commune sits on a ridge above the Ionian in the Alto Jonio Cosentino, with the Pollino massif behind it. It has two centers, the hill town at 619 meters and the marina on the coast below, joined by the road that passes the small chapel on the plain. Records of settlement here go back to the fourth century BC.
The castle stands in the Piano delle Rose locality, built by the Pignone del Carretto as a winter residence and hunting lodge; the de Martino family later ruled the feudo from 1748 until the abolition of feudalism in 1806. The commune carries the designations Borgo Autentico, Spiga Verde and Città del Vino. What holds the two centers and the centuries together is the sense of a working village rather than a preserved one: a hill town still occupied and repainted, a castle still standing over its own courtyard, a marina still adding beach length, and a plain between them still crossed on the old route from residence to coast.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 2 h 15 min by car.
Lamezia Terme (SUF) is about 2 h 35 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 2 h 9 min, Lecce 2 h 48 min or Salerno 2 h 59 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Taranto? Montegiordano is about 1 h 24 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Pignone del Carretto
Four kilometers from the marina, built as a winter residence by the Neapolitan Pignone del Carretto family who held the feudo from the seventeenth century.
Centro storico dei murales
The hilltop old town itself, its walls and lanes given over entirely to the mural project, each one telling a piece of the village story rather than standing as decoration alone.
Cappella Madonna del Carmine
Small chapel on the plain near the castle, a few hundred meters from the Pignone residence, on the road between hill and marina.
Marina di Montegiordano
Coastal fraction below the hill town with 2.5 kilometers of free and equipped beaches along the Costa degli Achei.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montegiordano is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,533. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Policoro, is 30 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Corigliano-Rossano, a city of 74,332, is 1 h 9 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
- 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 1,533, down 19.5% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Corigliano-Rossano, 1 h 9 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Policoro, 21 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €450 to €610 per m² to buy, €1.60 to €2.10 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 90% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 2 h 15 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Catanzaro, 2 h 50 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Tunisia, against 9% across Italy. There are 523 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 68% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Cosenza province ranks 100th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Trebisacce, 18 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Sangineto, 72 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 348 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 134 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.83% 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. The town adds 0.2% 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 Calabria spends about €1,620 a month, €590 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €398 a year for water, on the Calabria average. In Cosenza, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20 and a man's haircut €20.91.
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. 16% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 17% in a high or medium one. 19% 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
PAINTED VILLAGE
More than two hundred murals across the centro storico of this Alto Jonio hill town, applied as a regeneration project and now its contemporary identity.
PIGNONE CASTLE
Seventeenth-century hunting castle built by the Pignone del Carretto, with stables around a graveled courtyard and a central well.
WINE AND OLIO
Città del Vino on Alto Jonio slopes, with a winery near the castle producing wine and extra virgin olive oil under panoramic views.
Common questions
- What is Montegiordano known for?
- Montegiordano is a 619-meter hill town with a hunting castle and a centro storico turned into a gallery of murals.
- Where is Montegiordano?
- Montegiordano is a comune in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, at 619 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Montegiordano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 2 h 15 min by car.
- Can you get to Montegiordano without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bari to Montegiordano?
- About 2 h 9 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montegiordano?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montegiordano?
- Accettura, Cerchiara di Calabria and Badolato.
- How many people live in Montegiordano?
- 1,533 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montegiordano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montegiordano is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Policoro, is 30 min away. The nearest city, Corigliano-Rossano, is 1 h 9 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Policoro, 21 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 90% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 619 m
- Population: 1,533
- Surface area: 35.88 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 Montegiordano appears in
- The best wine towns in CalabriaCalabriawine6 towns · smallest 1,533 residents
- The best hidden towns you can reach by train in the province of CosenzaCosenza provinceby trainhidden7 towns · smallest 1,533 residents
- The best hill towns in the province of CosenzaCosenza provincehill town10 towns · smallest 716 residents
Similar
Towns like Montegiordano
What all six share with Montegiordano: under 3,000 people
Accettura
Province: Matera
both inland, away from the coast · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Cerchiara di Calabria
Province: Cosenza
both inland, away from the coast · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Badolato
Province: Catanzaro
both inland, away from the coast · both have a railway station in the comune
Acerenza
Province: Potenza
both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres · both have a railway station in the comune
Sant'Agata Feltria
Province: Rimini
both inland, away from the coast · both high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
San Mauro Forte
Province: Matera
both inland, away from the coast
The letter
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