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00 Murlo
Stemma di Murlo

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.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
44 min from Siena
By train
Station in the comune
Population
2,423

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.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J10°
  • F13°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J32°
  • A32°
  • S26°
  • O21°
  • N15°
  • D11°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 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.

The Sunday letter

Murlo 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 every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Murlo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Murlo in our articles

How to get there

From Bologna (BLQ), about 2h 37m by car.

Florence / Pisa (PSA) is about 2h 38m away.

By car from the centre of Siena 44 minutes, Florence 1h 44m or Perugia 2 hours.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Florence?

Murlo, photo 1
Murlo, photo 2

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.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Murlo fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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We recommend

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.

Living here

  • Population 2,423
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Bologna, 2 h 37 min drive
  • Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 44 min drive

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?
Bologna (BLQ), about 2h 37m 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 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Murlo?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
Which other towns are like Murlo?
Campo Ligure, Genga and Fossato di Vico.
How many people live in Murlo?
2,423 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 314 m
  • Population: 2,423
  • 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.

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