Tuscany · Siena
Murlo
A medieval bishops' fief twenty kilometers south of Siena, with an Etruscan princely palace on Poggio Civitate and the Cappellone statue as its symbol.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Murlo is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione, Città del Vino and Città dell'Olio.
The nearest town with a letter is San Quirico d'Orcia, No. 46, 21 km away.
Subscribe and you get Murlo's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 44 min from Siena
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 2,479
- J10°
- F13°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S26°
- O21°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Murlo sits on a wooded ridge above the Crevole river, twenty kilometers south of Siena. The comune is scattered. The town hall is in Vescovado, the modern center down on the valley road; the medieval castle of Murlo, walled and tower-anchored, is a kilometer up on the hill, mostly empty and given over to tourism.
The bishops of Siena held this ground as a feudal lordship for centuries, which kept it outside the Sienese republic and gave it the unusual status of an episcopal fief. The defining find is older. On Poggio Civitate, three kilometers north, archaeologists from 1966 onward uncovered an Etruscan princely palace of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, one of the most important Etruscan settlement complexes ever excavated. The terracotta acroteria from the roof line included the Cappellone, a seated bearded male wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sixth century BC, now the symbol of the Antiquarium museum housed in the old Episcopal Palace at the center of the borgo.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 2 h 37 min by car.
Pisa (PSA) is about 2 h 38 min away.
By car from the center of Siena 44 min, Florence 1 h 44 min or Perugia 1 h 55 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Florence?
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Antiquarium di Poggio Civitate
Archaeological museum in the medieval Palazzo Vescovile at the center of Murlo, holding the Cappellone and other finds from the Etruscan settlement on Poggio Civitate.
Poggio Civitate
Etruscan princely palace complex of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, three kilometers north of the borgo, one of the most important sites in Etruria.
Castello di Murlo
Twelfth-century walled village, the medieval seat of the bishops of Siena, with narrow streets converging on the Palazzo Vescovile.
Chiesa di San Fortunato
Parish church inside the walls of Murlo castle, plain stone façade, the religious anchor of the episcopal fief.
Val di Merse
Forested river valley west of Murlo, with hiking trails connecting the borgo to the hermitages of Montespecchio and the surrounding nature reserves.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Il LibridinosoRistorante
Il Libridinoso holds a Slow Food snail.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Murlo is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,479. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Monteroni d'Arbia, is 17 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Siena, a city of 52,990, is 44 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- 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 2,479, up 3% since 2015
- Nearest city Siena, 44 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Siena, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,400 to €2,000 per m² to buy, €4.40 to €6.30 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 96% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Florence airport (FLR), 1 h 49 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 1 h 44 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
13% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Pakistan, Albania and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 29 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and the United Kingdom. There are 193 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 40% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Siena province ranks 21st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Siena, 17 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest children's emergency room is in Grosseto, 50 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Siena, 20 km as the crow flies.
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. 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 Tuscany spends about €2,410 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €770 a year for water, on the Tuscany average. In Siena, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €17.81 and a man's haircut €25.49.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 4% 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
CAPPELLONE
Sixth-century BC seated terracotta male in a wide-brimmed hat, the symbol of the Antiquarium and one of the most striking Etruscan acroteria ever found.
POGGIO CIVITATE
Etruscan princely palace excavated from 1966 on a hill three kilometers north, one of the most important pre-Roman settlement complexes in Italy.
BISHOPS' FIEF
Held by the bishops of Siena as a feudal lordship for centuries, the unusual status that kept it outside the Sienese republic until the nineteenth century.
Common questions
- What is Murlo known for?
- Murlo is a medieval bishops' fief twenty kilometers south of Siena, with an Etruscan princely palace on Poggio Civitate and the Cappellone statue as its symbol.
- Where is Murlo?
- Murlo is a comune in the province of Siena, in Tuscany, at 314 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Murlo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Florence (FLR), about 1 h 49 min by car.
- Can you get to Murlo without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Siena to Murlo?
- About 44 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Murlo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Murlo?
- Campo Ligure, Genga and Fossato di Vico.
- How many people live in Murlo?
- 2,479 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Murlo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Murlo is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Monteroni d'Arbia, is 17 min away. The nearest city, Siena, is 44 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Siena, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 96% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 314 m
- Population: 2,479
- Surface area: 114.61 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 Murlo appears in
- The best small towns you can reach by train in ToscanaTuscanyby trainsmall6 towns · smallest 2,479 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train in the province of SienaSiena provinceby train7 towns · smallest 2,479 residents
- The best small wine towns that eat well in TuscanyTuscanywineeats wellsmall9 towns · smallest 1,421 residents
- The 10 best small hill towns in the province of SienaSiena provincehill townsmall10 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The best small olive oil towns in the province of SienaSiena provinceolive oilsmall10 towns · smallest 1,137 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 46.
San Quirico d'Orcia
Province: Siena
A walled stop on the Via Francigena at 409 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, where a twelfth-century Collegiata, a Renaissance garden and the Bagno Vignoni thermal pool sit within fifteen kilometers of each other.
21 km away
- Written about. No. 41.
Castiglione d'Orcia
Province: Siena
A stone borgo at 540 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, with two fortresses guarding the road from Amiata to the Via Francigena.
25 km away
- Written about. No. 44.
Pienza
Province: Siena
The first Renaissance ideal city, built from 1459 on the Val d'Orcia ridge.
25 km away
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 17 km away
Tuscan Mainland: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscan Mainland guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The postcard country, and what is under it. 15 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.