Campania · Salerno
Morigerati
A 573-person Cilento village above the Bussento gorge, the river surfacing from underground caves directly beneath the cliffs.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Morigerati is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Città delle Grotte.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 33 min from Salerno
- Population
- 573
- J11°
- F13°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A28°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Morigerati sits on a cliff in the southern Cilento, inside the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, with five hundred and seventy-three residents on a stone ridge above the Bussento. The river that gives the commune its identity disappears underground for seven kilometers and resurfaces from a series of karst caves directly below the village, the Grotte del Bussento, which the WWF designated as an oasis in 1985 and still manages on six hundred and seven hectares of forest and water. The path down from the centro to the cave mouth is a short walk and a steep climb back.
The commune is a Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club Italiano, a member of the Città delle Grotte network, and sits inside one of the largest national parks in Italy. The village fits the southern Cilento depopulation pattern: an aging core, emigration out, and a small return of visitors drawn by the water under the rock.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 2 h 16 min by car.
Lamezia Terme (SUF) is about 3 h 9 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 1 h 33 min, Naples 2 h 16 min or Bari 3 h 25 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Grotte del Bussento
Karst cave mouth where the Bussento river resurfaces after seven kilometers underground, with a WWF-managed oasis of 607 hectares since 1985.
Centro storico di Morigerati
Stone village at 340 meters on the cliff above the river, with narrow lanes, arches, and overlooks down to the cave mouth below.
Oasi WWF Grotte del Bussento
Nature reserve of beech, oak and alder along the Bussento gorge, run by WWF Italia in collaboration with the comune.
Chiesa dei Santi Demetrio e Vito
Eighteenth-century parish church in the upper centro, dedicated to the Greek martyr Demetrius alongside Saint Vitus.
Living here
Could you live here?
Morigerati is at the end of the road.
- A village of 573. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sapri, is 40 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Potenza, a city of 63,864, is 1 h 30 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 573, down 15.9% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Potenza, 1 h 30 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sapri, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €610 to €780 per m² to buy, €1.50 to €1.90 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Very remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 2 h 16 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 2 h 16 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Germany, against 9% across Italy. There are 328 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 50% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Salerno province ranks 90th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sapri, 11 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Potenza, 62 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 293 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 136 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
The town adds nothing 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 Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 25% 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
BUSSENTO RESURGENCE
Karst cave system where the Bussento river resurfaces after seven kilometers underground, one of the major karst sites of southern Italy.
WWF OASIS
Six hundred and seven hectares of forest and gorge managed by WWF Italia since 1985, the second-oldest WWF oasis in the country.
BANDIERA ARANCIONE
Touring Club Italiano quality mark for small inland villages, awarded for the integrity of the centro and the WWF site below.
Common questions
- What is Morigerati known for?
- Morigerati is a 573-person Cilento village above the Bussento gorge, the river surfacing from underground caves directly beneath the cliffs.
- Where is Morigerati?
- Morigerati is a comune in the province of Salerno, in Campania, at 340 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Morigerati?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 2 h 16 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Morigerati?
- About 1 h 33 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Morigerati?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Morigerati?
- Roscigno, Aieta and Aliano.
- How many people live in Morigerati?
- 573 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Morigerati a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Morigerati is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sapri, is 40 min away. The nearest city, Potenza, is 1 h 30 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sapri, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 340 m
- Population: 573
- Surface area: 21.19 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 Morigerati
What all six share with Morigerati: inland, away from the coast · under 1,000 people · hill towns
The letter
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