Anywhere Italy
00 Nusco
Stemma di Nusco

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.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 11 min from Salerno
By train
Station in the comune
Population
3,899

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.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J7°
  • F9°
  • M10°
  • A13°
  • M18°
  • J24°
  • J29°
  • A28°
  • S22°
  • O18°
  • N13°
  • D9°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Amato di Nusco, 30 September

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 canonised after his death that year, 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 a medieval church dedicated to Saint Stephen.

In 1656 the plague killed up to a third of the population. The streets of the centro storico are still paved in limestone slabs, which 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.

The Sunday letter

Nusco 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 Nusco comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.

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Nusco in our articles

How to get there

From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 18m by car.

Bari / Brindisi (BRI) is about 2h 22m away.

By car from the centre of Salerno 1h 11m, Naples 1h 21m or Bari 2h 30m.

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

Coming from Naples or Bari?

Coming by train into Salerno? Nusco is about 1h 14m away by road.

Every town within reach of Naples / Salerno airport.

Nusco, photo 1
Nusco, photo 2

What to see

  • Concattedrale di Sant'Amato

    Co-cathedral in Piazza Vescovado, composite stone façade and 33-meter bell tower added in 1891, 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, the source of the Balcony of Irpinia nickname.

  • Chiesa di Sant'Antonio

    Old conventual church in the lower part of the centro storico, with a stone portal and a single nave.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Nusco 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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Living here

  • Population 3,899, down 8.5% since 2015
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest public hospital Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 8 km as the crow flies
  • Full fibre reaches 56% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 18 min drive
  • Regional capital Napoli, 1 h 21 min drive

Could you live here?

Nusco is at the end of the road.

  • A village of 3,899. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Lioni, is 17 minutes away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
  • Avellino, a city of 52,198, is 39 minutes 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 centre.

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. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.

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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?
Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 18m by car.
Can you get to Nusco without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Salerno to Nusco?
About 1h 11m 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.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Nusco?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Amato di Nusco, 30 September.
Which other towns are like Nusco?
Carsoli, Gizzeria and Padula.
How many people live in Nusco?
3,899 at the 2023 count.
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 minutes away. The nearest city, Avellino, is 39 minutes away by car. The nearest public hospital is in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 56% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 914 m
  • Population: 3,899
  • 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.

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