Marche · Fermo
Moresco
A 525-person hill borgo above the Aso valley, with a 25-meter seven-sided tower unique in Europe.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Moresco is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h from Ancona
- Population
- 525
- J9°
- F11°
- M12°
- A14°
- M19°
- J24°
- J28°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Moresco sits on a hill above the Aso valley, twenty kilometers from Fermo and ten from the Adriatic. The walled village holds 525 residents and a triangular piazza on the summit, with the seven-sided watchtower rising at the entrance. The Torre Eptagonale is 25 meters high and dates to the twelfth century; its seven sides appear to be the only such plan in Europe, and the reason for the unusual geometry is not documented.
The Arabic-style spire collapsed in 1918 and was replaced by the Ghibelline crenellations still in place. The fortified castle around it passed in the thirteenth century to Federico II, then to King Manfred, and finally, in 1266, to the city of Fermo, in a sale made while the Venetian Lorenzo Tiepolo, later Doge, was Fermo's podestà. The Chiesa di Santa Sofia and a smaller civic tower share the piazza. The Aso valley below is planted in vineyards and orchards.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 5 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 8 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h or Pescara 1 h 14 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Moresco is about 1 h 12 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Torre Eptagonale
25-meter twelfth-century watchtower with a seven-sided plan, thought to be the only one of its kind in Europe, topped by Ghibelline crenellations after the 1918 collapse of its original spire.
Piazza Castello
Triangular summit piazza of the walled village, framed by the Torre Eptagonale, the civic tower and the Chiesa di Santa Sofia.
Torre dell'Orologio
Smaller civic clock tower on the central piazza, alongside the heptagonal watchtower and the Santa Sofia church.
Chiesa di Santa Sofia
Parish church on Piazza Castello, of medieval origin and rebuilt across the centuries inside the walled circuit of the borgo.
Living here
Could you live here?
Moresco is at the end of the road.
- A village of 525. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Porto San Giorgio, is 22 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Fermo, a city of 35,727, is 26 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 525, down 14.5% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Fermo, 26 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Fermo, 9 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €650 to €900 per m² to buy, €2.90 to €4.20 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 81% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 1 h 5 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from North Macedonia and the Dominican Republic, against 9% across Italy. There are 356 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 39% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Fermo province ranks 47th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Fermo, 9 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 58 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 143 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 29 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1% 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. 6% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 11% 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
SEVEN-SIDED TOWER
25-meter twelfth-century watchtower with seven sides, thought to be unique in Europe, dominating the Aso valley from the village summit.
525 RESIDENTS
One of the smallest communes in the Marche, with a triangular hilltop piazza and a centro storico that walks end to end in ten minutes.
ASO VALLEY
Hilltop position at 405 meters above the Aso valley, with vineyards and orchards stretching toward the Adriatic ten kilometers east.
Common questions
- What is Moresco known for?
- Moresco is a 525-person hill borgo at 405 meters above the Aso valley, with a 25-meter seven-sided tower unique in Europe.
- Where is Moresco?
- Moresco is a comune in the province of Fermo, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Moresco?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 5 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Moresco?
- About 1 h by car.
- When is the best time to visit Moresco?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Moresco?
- Scheggino, Vallo di Nera and Serralunga d'Alba.
- How many people live in Moresco?
- 525 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Moresco a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Moresco is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Porto San Giorgio, is 22 min away. The nearest city, Fermo, is 26 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Fermo, 9 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 81% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 405 m
- Population: 525
- Surface area: 6.35 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 Moresco appears in
Similar
Towns like Moresco
What all six share with Moresco: inland, away from the coast · under 1,000 people · hill towns
The letter
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