Tuscany · Pisa
Peccioli
Borgo dei Borghi 2024 in the Valdera hills, a medieval village that funded a public contemporary-art program with revenue from its landfill plant.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 52 min from Pisa
- Population
- 4,662
Known for
BORGO DEI BORGHI 2024
Won the RAI contest for the most beautiful village in Italy in April 2024, the first Pisa-province winner of the program.
PUBLIC ART
Fondazione Peccioliper has commissioned contemporary-art interventions throughout the borgo since 2004, funded by landfill revenue.
THE LANDFILL
Municipal waste plant on the slope below the village, run as a public-private joint, whose revenue funds the cultural foundation and the open-air theaters.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J11°
- F13°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S27°
- O22°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Verano di Cavaillon, 27 October
Why come
Peccioli sits in the Valdera, thirty kilometers southeast of Pisa, on a hill above the Era river. The historic center is medieval: the Pieve di San Verano is documented in 1171 in a papal bull of Alexander III, the layout standing today is twelfth and thirteenth century, and the bell tower beside it climbs forty-two meters above the rooftops. What sets Peccioli apart is what happened after.
In the 1990s the comune partnered with a private operator to build a waste treatment plant on the slope below town. The Triangolo Verde, the green amphitheater built into the landfill site, hosts open-air concerts and contemporary-art installations. Revenue from the plant funds the Fondazione Peccioliper, a cultural foundation that since 2004 has commissioned sculptural and painted interventions throughout the borgo by international artists. The village won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi contest in 2024 on that combination: medieval bones, open-air contemporary art, and a landfill that paid for it.
Read on
Peccioli in our articles
The best hill towns in the province of Pisa7 towns, Peccioli among them.
10 hidden food towns near Florence10 towns, Peccioli among them.
10 towns that make Florence a day trip, not a base10 towns, Peccioli among them.
10 towns within an hour of Florence, without the crowds of Florence10 towns, Peccioli among them.
How to get there
From Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 58 minutes by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 2h 10m away.
By car from the centre of Pisa 52 minutes, Florence 1h 20m or Siena 1h 26m.
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Peccioli is about 54 minutes away by road.
What to see
Pieve di San Verano
Romanesque parish church documented in 1171, twelfth-century layout, with a forty-two meter bell tower beside it.
Anfiteatro Fonte Mazzola
Open-air theater built in the shape of an ancient Greek amphitheater, two thousand seats, used for the Peccioli summer festival.
Museo di Palazzo Pretorio
Civic museum on the main square, part of the Museum Complex that includes the archaeological collection and the Sacred Art museum.
Campanile di San Verano
Forty-two meter bell tower beside the parish church, a nineteenth-century work by architect Bellincioni, the visual anchor of the skyline.
Triangolo Verde
Green amphitheater built into the landfill site below the village, a balcony overlooking the waste treatment plant, with eco-compatible art installations.
Centro storico
Medieval village with contemporary-art interventions throughout, commissioned by the Fondazione Peccioliper since 2004.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Peccioli 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.
The Sunday letter
Peccioli got its letter. One town every Sunday, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Living here
- Population 4,662
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 58 min drive
- Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 20 min drive
Common questions
- What is Peccioli known for?
- Borgo dei Borghi 2024 in the Valdera hills, a medieval village that funded a public contemporary-art program with revenue from its landfill plant.
- Where is Peccioli?
- Peccioli is a comune in the province of Pisa, in Tuscany, at 144 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Peccioli?
- Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 58 minutes by car.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Peccioli?
- About 52 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Peccioli?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Peccioli?
- The town keeps its patron saint's day: Verano di Cavaillon, 27 October.
- Which other towns are like Peccioli?
- Montecarlo, Vicopisano and Monzambano.
- How many people live in Peccioli?
- 4,662 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 144 m
- Population: 4,662
- Surface area: 92.52 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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