Marche · Macerata
Montelupone
A walled hill borgo above the lower Potenza valley, with a fourteenth-century civic loggia and a 1889 horseshoe theater.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Montelupone is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 47 min from Ancona
- Population
- 3,355
- 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
Montelupone sits on a hill in the lower Potenza valley, eleven kilometers northeast of Macerata. The territory holds Picene and Roman traces and was part of the March of Fermo through the early Middle Ages. The fourteenth-century walls still ring the centro storico almost intact, pierced by four gates: Porta del Trebbio, Porta Ulpiana, Porta Santo Stefano and Porta del Cassero.
On Piazza del Comune the Palazzo del Podestà rises in fourteenth-century brick, with a five-arched loggia, a clock tower and Ghibelline crenellations. Inside the same complex the Teatro Nicola degli Angeli, inaugurated in 1889, holds 272 seats in a neoclassical horseshoe with two orders of boxes and a ceiling of musical angels. Below the hill, in the valley plain, the Abbazia di San Firmano was founded in 986 on the church of Saint John the Evangelist and rebuilt in 1256, with a Byzantine-Romanesque gabled facade. The town carries the carciofo and the honey of the Potenza hills.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 52 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 55 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 47 min or Pescara 1 h 41 min.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Palazzo del Podestà
Fourteenth-century civic palace on Piazza del Comune, with five-arched loggia, clock tower and Ghibelline crenellations, the architectural anchor of the centro storico.
Teatro Nicola degli Angeli
Inaugurated 1889 inside the Palazzo del Podestà, 272 seats in a neoclassical horseshoe with two orders of boxes and a ceiling of musical angels.
Abbazia di San Firmano
Benedictine abbey founded 986 on the church of Saint John the Evangelist, rebuilt 1256 when the body of San Firmano was found, with a Byzantine-Romanesque gabled facade.
Mura medievali
Fourteenth-century walls ringing the centro storico, with four surviving gates: Porta del Trebbio, Porta Ulpiana, Porta Santo Stefano and Porta del Cassero.
Pinacoteca Civica
Inside the Palazzo del Podestà, holding works recovered from the local churches together with the civic archive of the medieval and early modern town.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montelupone is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 3,355, with Recanati (20,599 people) 14 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Macerata, a city of 40,585, is 20 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 3,355, down 5.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Macerata, 20 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Civitanova Marche, 10 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €620 to €1,150 per m² to buy, €3.20 to €4.80 per m² a month to rent
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 71% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 52 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 47 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Pakistan and China, against 9% across Italy. There are 229 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 29% 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, 10 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 26 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 26 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 113 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 10 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 €12,000. 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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 5% 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
TEATRO 1889
272-seat neoclassical horseshoe theater named for the local poet Nicola degli Angeli, inside the Palazzo del Podestà on Piazza del Comune.
SAN FIRMANO
Byzantine-Romanesque Benedictine abbey founded 986 below the hill, with the body of its abbot saint recovered during the 1256 rebuilding.
CARCIOFO
Local artichoke variety grown in the lower Potenza valley fields, celebrated annually at the Sagra del Carciofo in the centro storico.
Common questions
- What is Montelupone known for?
- Montelupone is a walled hill borgo at 272 meters above the lower Potenza valley, with a fourteenth-century civic loggia and a 1889 horseshoe theater.
- Where is Montelupone?
- Montelupone is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Montelupone?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 52 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Montelupone?
- About 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montelupone?
- 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 Montelupone?
- Acquaviva Picena, Offida and Corinaldo.
- How many people live in Montelupone?
- 3,355 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montelupone a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montelupone is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Recanati, 14 min). The nearest city, Macerata, is 20 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Civitanova Marche, 10 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 71% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 272 m
- Population: 3,355
- Surface area: 32.67 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 Montelupone appears in
Similar
Towns like Montelupone
What all six share with Montelupone: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
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