Abruzzo · Chieti
Montelapiano
At 740 meters on a limestone marl ridge in the middle Sangro valley, one of the smallest comuni in Italy, population 67.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Montelapiano is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 24 min from Pescara
- Population
- 67
- J8°
- F11°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J24°
- J27°
- A27°
- S22°
- O18°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Montelapiano occupies a rock of limestone marl in the middle Sangro valley, positioned between the Roccaraso mountains and the Adriatic. That position between two landscapes is what gives the ridge its long views in both directions: inland to the Maiella, and south along the valley the Sangro has cut. The local name for the place, la terrazza d'Abruzzo, comes directly from this siting on the ridge rather than from any single building or event.
The village itself is a single stepped core of stone houses climbing the ridge, with the parish church set among them and little else. Outside that core, the 8.27 square kilometers of municipal land are woodland and terraced fields, largely uninhabited. What holds the place together, in the end, is the ridge itself: a village small enough that its geography and its population size are really the same fact, seen from two sides.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 2 h 52 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 57 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 1 h 24 min, Naples 2 h 57 min or Ancona 2 h 57 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Montelapiano is about 1 h 25 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Belvedere su Lago di Bomba
The village terrace, where the ridge drops away and the view opens onto Lake Bomba directly below, the artificial lake on the Sangro.
Borgo medievale
Stone houses stepped up the ridge in a compact medieval core, the built form that gives the village its shape.
Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate
Small parish church set in the village core, its plain volume the only religious building among the stone houses.
Territorio comunale
8.27 square kilometers of wooded ridge and terraced fields above the Sangro, largely empty outside the village center.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montelapiano is at the end of the road.
- A village of 67. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Casoli, is 44 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Chieti, a city of 48,403, is 1 h 22 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 67
- Nearest city Chieti, 1 h 22 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Atessa, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €420 to €630 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Very remote
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 100% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 1 h 32 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 2 h 31 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, against 9% across Italy. There are 700 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 83% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Chieti province ranks 62nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Atessa, 17 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Caserta, 97 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 154 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 30 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.76% 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. 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 Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo 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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 18% 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
67 RESIDENTS
One of the smallest comuni in Italy by population, with 67 inhabitants in 2025.
TERRAZZA D'ABRUZZO
Limestone marl ridge looking straight onto Lake Bomba, with the Maiella on one horizon and the Sangro on the other.
Common questions
- What is Montelapiano known for?
- At 740 meters on a limestone marl ridge in the middle Sangro valley, one of the smallest comuni in Italy, population 67.
- Where is Montelapiano?
- Montelapiano is a comune in the province of Chieti, in Abruzzo.
- What is the nearest airport to Montelapiano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 1 h 32 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Montelapiano?
- About 1 h 24 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montelapiano?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montelapiano?
- Monteferrante, Alfedena and Guardia Perticara.
- How many people live in Montelapiano?
- 67 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montelapiano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montelapiano is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Casoli, is 44 min away. The nearest city, Chieti, is 1 h 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Atessa, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 100% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 740 m
- Population: 67
- Surface area: 8.27 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 Montelapiano
What all six share with Montelapiano: mountain-valley towns · under 1,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
Montelapiano 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 Montelapiano comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 149 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.