Basilicata · Matera
Nova Siri
A 350-meter Ionian hill town with a Blue Flag beach nine kilometers below, near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Siris.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Nova Siri is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 2 h 1 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 6,886
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J29°
- J33°
- A32°
- S27°
- O22°
- N17°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in July at 29° and coldest in February at 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Nova Siri exists in two parts. The old town sits on a hill nine kilometers inland; Marina di Nova Siri lies on the Ionian Sea below, developed from the 1970s onward as a beach town. The site is on the southern edge of Basilicata where the region meets Calabria, near the ancient Greek colony of Siris, founded by Ionian settlers in the seventh century BC and destroyed in the sixth, whose territory gave the region its name of Siritide and whose river, the modern Sinni, still defines the comune.
Byzantine military use followed in the early medieval period. The Torre Bollita, a semicircular tufo tower inside the medieval walls, is the surviving fortification; in its vicinity, the remains of a Hellenistic necropolis have come to light. The Chiesa Madre dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta dates to the sixteenth century.
The Marina holds the Bandiera Blu since 2018, with wide sandy beaches, dunes and pine forest behind. Spighe Verdi recognizes the commune's rural and environmental management.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 2 h 7 min by car.
Lamezia Terme (SUF) is about 2 h 47 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 2 h 1 min, Lecce 2 h 40 min or Salerno 2 h 56 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Taranto? Nova Siri is about 1 h 17 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Marina di Nova Siri
Bandiera Blu beach since 2018, with sandy coast, dunes and a pine-shaded promenade nine kilometers below the old town.
Torre Bollita
Semicircular tufo defensive tower within the medieval walls, the surviving fortification of the historic center.
Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria Assunta
Sixteenth-century mother church in the old town, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, the village's patron saint and protectress.
Necropoli ellenistica
Hellenistic burial remains near Torre Bollita, traces of the ancient Siritide territory that took its name from the Greek colony of Siris.
Castello
Medieval fortification overlooking the old town from above, remodelled multiple times across the centuries since the Byzantine period.
Living here
Could you live here?
Nova Siri meets 2 of our 3 rules for a small town.
- 6,886 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Corigliano-Rossano, a city of 74,332, is 1 h 20 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
- 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 6,886, up 3% since 2015
- Nearest city Corigliano-Rossano, 1 h 20 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Policoro, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €520 to €770 per m² to buy, €1.60 to €3.40 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
- Remote
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 62% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 2 h 7 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Potenza, 2 h 9 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Pakistan and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 10 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 189 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 27% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Matera province ranks 79th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Policoro, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Taranto, 74 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 355 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 128 km away.
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 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 Basilicata spends about €1,890 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €459 a year for water, on the Basilicata average.
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. 8% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 22% in a high or medium one. 1% 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
BLUE FLAG
Marina di Nova Siri has held the Bandiera Blu since 2018, with sandy Ionian beaches and pine forest behind the dunes.
SIRIS
Near the seventh-century BC Ionian Greek colony of Siris, whose river, today's Sinni, names the region of Siritide.
SPIGHE VERDI
FEE rural-environmental award held by the commune, recognising sustainable land management alongside the Blue Flag coast.
FRAGOLA DELLA BASILICATA
The commune lies inside the Fragola della Basilicata IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Nova Siri known for?
- Nova Siri is a 350-meter Ionian hill town with a Blue Flag beach nine kilometers below, near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Siris.
- Where is Nova Siri?
- Nova Siri is a comune in the province of Matera, in Basilicata, at 350 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Nova Siri?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 2 h 7 min by car.
- Can you get to Nova Siri without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bari to Nova Siri?
- About 2 h 1 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Nova Siri?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Nova Siri?
- Rocca Imperiale, Villapiana and Petacciato.
- How many people live in Nova Siri?
- 6,886 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Nova Siri a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Nova Siri is a small town that meets 2 of our 3 rules. The nearest city, Corigliano-Rossano, is 1 h 20 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Policoro, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 62% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 350 m
- Population: 6,886
- Surface area: 52.75 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 Nova Siri appears in
- The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of TarantoNear Tarantocoastalwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 3,132 residents · closest 46 min away
- The best beach towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of TarantoNear Tarantoclean beachby trainwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 3,132 residents · closest 49 min away
Similar
Towns like Nova Siri
What all six share with Nova Siri: between 3,000 and 10,000 people
Rocca Imperiale
Province: Cosenza
both on the Ionian coast · both hill towns
Villapiana
Province: Cosenza
both on the Ionian coast · both hill towns
Petacciato
Province: Campobasso
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
Cariati
Province: Cosenza
both on the Ionian coast · both have a railway station in the comune
- Written about. No. 47.
Capalbio
Province: Grosseto
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
Maruggio
Province: Taranto
both on the Ionian coast
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