Abruzzo · L'Aquila
Navelli
At 760 meters above the Navelli plain, the pyramid of stone houses growing the saffron a 13th-century Dominican brought from Spain.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Navelli is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Subscribe and you get Navelli's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h from Pescara
- Population
- 567
- J8°
- F11°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Navelli sits at 760 meters on a rocky outcrop above the Navelli plain, ranked among I Borghi più belli d'Italia. The village is built as a pyramid of houses tilted up the rock, with the most prestigious buildings at the top: Palazzo Santucci, the Chiesa di San Sebastiano, and the Chiesa di Madonna delle Grazie. The medieval structure is almost intact.
Palazzo Santucci was built in 1632 on the ruins of an 8th-10th century castle around which the original settlement clustered. It served as residence to the feudal lords of Navelli until feudalism was abolished in 1806. The Navelli plain below produces Zafferano dell'Aquila, the DOP saffron registered in 2005, brought from Spain in the 13th century by a Dominican friar from the local Santucci family.
The karst nature of the plain prevents water stagnation and gives the saffron its quality. Production is concentrated around Navelli and surrounding communes. Population is 567.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 17 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 35 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 1 h or Ancona 2 h 31 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Navelli is about 1 h 2 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Palazzo Santucci
Renaissance fortified palace built 1632 on a pre-existing 8th-10th century castle, residence of the feudal lords until 1806.
Chiesa di San Sebastiano
Upper church in the highest part of the village, alongside Palazzo Santucci on the rocky summit of the pyramid.
Chiesa di Madonna delle Grazie
Second upper church on the village summit, part of the medieval religious core preserved almost intact.
Piana di Navelli
Karst plain below the village producing Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP, harvested by hand in late October every year.
Centro storico
Pyramid of stone houses tilted up the rocky outcrop, with a medieval layout preserved almost intact and a circular curtain wall.
Living here
Could you live here?
Navelli is at the end of the road.
- A village of 567. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 42 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- L'Aquila, a city of 70,425, is 42 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 567, down 2.4% since 2015
- Nearest city L'Aquila, 42 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Popoli Terme, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €400 to €600 per m² to buy, €1.60 to €2.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 1 h 9 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 42 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
19% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine and Romania, against 9% across Italy. There are 279 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 74% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. L'Aquila province ranks 69th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Popoli Terme, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 96 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in L'Aquila, 31 km away. The nearest IB school is Marymount International School Rome, 109 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 54 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.96% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 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 Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo 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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
ZAFFERANO DOP
Zafferano dell'Aquila, registered as DOP in 2005, brought from Spain in the 13th century by a Dominican friar from the Santucci family.
PALAZZO SANTUCCI
Renaissance fortified palace of 1632, built on an 8th-10th century castle around which the original village clustered.
PYRAMID BORGO
Village built as a pyramid of houses on a rocky outcrop, medieval structure almost intact and ranked among the most beautiful in Italy.
Common questions
- What is Navelli known for?
- At 760 meters above the Navelli plain, the pyramid of stone houses growing the saffron a 13th-century Dominican brought from Spain.
- Where is Navelli?
- Navelli is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo.
- What is the nearest airport to Navelli?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 1 h 9 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Navelli?
- About 1 h by car.
- When is the best time to visit Navelli?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Navelli?
- Arquata del Tronto, Sellano and Rocca di Botte.
- How many people live in Navelli?
- 567 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Navelli a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Navelli is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 42 min away. The nearest city, L'Aquila, is 42 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Popoli Terme, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 760 m
- Population: 567
- Surface area: 42 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 Navelli appears in
Similar
Towns like Navelli
What all six share with Navelli: mountain-valley towns · under 1,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
Navelli 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Navelli comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 91 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.