Campania · Avellino
Nusco
The Balcony of Irpinia at 914 meters, a ridge town between the Ofanto and Calore valleys, hometown of Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Nusco is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 11 min from Salerno
- Population
- 3,799
- J7°
- F9°
- M10°
- A13°
- M18°
- J24°
- J29°
- A28°
- S22°
- O18°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Nusco runs along a narrow ridge at 914 meters between the Ofanto and Calore Irpino river valleys, the watershed of inner Irpinia. The first written record is the 1093 will of bishop Amatus, who described his seat with the word civitas. He was venerated as a saint from the twelfth century, and the Concattedrale di Sant'Amato in Piazza Vescovado holds his cult and treasury today, its composite stone façade and 33-meter bell tower set on the church he founded and dedicated to Saint Stephen.
In 1656 the plague killed more than a third of the population. The streets of the centro storico are still paved in limestone slabs, and the view from the castle ramparts, from the Vulture to the Matese, gives the town its nickname, the Balcony of Irpinia. Ciriaco De Mita, prime minister from April 1988 to July 1989, was born here and served as mayor until his death in 2022; the crowd applauded as his coffin reached the church.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 1 h 18 min by car.
Bari (BRI) is about 2 h 22 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 1 h 11 min, Naples 1 h 21 min or Bari 2 h 30 min.
Coming by train into Salerno? Nusco is about 1 h 14 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Concattedrale di Sant'Amato
Co-cathedral in Piazza Vescovado, composite stone façade and 33-meter bell tower built in 1521, houses the relics and Treasure Room of the patron saint.
Ruderi del Castello Longobardo
Ruins of the Lombard fortress at the highest point of the ridge, the original strongpoint that anchored the medieval civitas.
Centro storico
Limestone-paved medieval lanes along the narrow ridge, with the views that earned the Balcony of Irpinia nickname.
Chiesa di Sant'Antonio
Seventeenth-century church near the castle, its façade framed by the 1548 Renaissance travertine portal moved here from the cathedral.
Living here
Could you live here?
Nusco is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,799. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Lioni, is 17 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Avellino, a city of 51,975, is 39 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 3,799, down 8.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Avellino, 39 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 9 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €495 to €590 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.20 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 56% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 1 h 18 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 1 h 21 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 245 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 37% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Avellino province ranks 77th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 9 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Avellino, 25 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Avellino, 25 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 243 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 72 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1% 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. The town adds between 0.6% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income. 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. In Avellino, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20, a meal in a pizzeria €16.06 and a man's haircut €15.95.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 1% in a high or medium one. 2% 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
SANT'AMATO
First bishop of Nusco, canonised after his 1093 death, his cult and treasury are kept in the co-cathedral named for him.
BALCONY OF IRPINIA
The narrow limestone ridge at 914 meters between Ofanto and Calore valleys gives the town long views across inner Irpinia.
CIRIACO DE MITA
Italian prime minister 1988-89, born in Nusco, mayor of the commune from 2014 until his death in 2022.
Common questions
- What is Nusco known for?
- Nusco is the Balcony of Irpinia at 914 meters, a ridge town between the Ofanto and Calore valleys, hometown of Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita.
- Where is Nusco?
- Nusco is a comune in the province of Avellino, in Campania.
- What is the nearest airport to Nusco?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 1 h 18 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Nusco?
- About 1 h 11 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Nusco?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Nusco?
- Frigento, Gesualdo and Morcone.
- How many people live in Nusco?
- 3,799 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Nusco a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Nusco is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Lioni, is 17 min away. The nearest city, Avellino, is 39 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 9 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 56% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 914 m
- Population: 3,799
- Surface area: 53.6 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 Nusco appears in
- The prettiest villages inside a nature park within 90 minutes of SalernoNear Salernoinside a parkwithin 90 minprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 644 residents · closest 16 min away
- The prettiest villages in the province of AvellinoAvellino provinceprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 682 residents
- The best mountain towns within 90 minutes of SalernoNear Salernomountainwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 720 residents · closest 55 min away
- The best small mountain towns in CampaniaCampaniamountainsmall10 towns · smallest 619 residents
- The prettiest villages within 90 minutes of SalernoNear Salernowithin 90 minprettiest villages10 towns · smallest 644 residents · closest 16 min away
Similar
Towns like Nusco
What all six share with Nusco: mountain-valley towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
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