Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Pergola
A hill town in the upper Cesano valley, holding the only surviving group of Roman gilded bronze statues from antiquity.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Pergola is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città del Tartufo.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 15 min from Ancona
- Population
- 5,720
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O21°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Pergola sits on a terrace at the confluence of the Cesano and the Cinisco, fifty-five kilometers from Ancona in the inland Apennines. The town was founded in 1234 by the people of Gubbio with inhabitants of the surrounding castles, raised on older Roman ground along the Via Flaminia. The defining find is the Bronzi Dorati da Cartoceto: hundreds of gilded bronze fragments unearthed in June and July 1946 at Santa Lucia di Calamello, in the frazione of Cartoceto, the only surviving group of Roman gilded bronze statues from antiquity.
Reassembled into two standing women, two riders and two horses, the group dates to the late Republican period between 50 and 30 BC and is held in the Museo dei Bronzi Dorati, opened on 9 October 1999 in the fourteenth-century convent of San Giacomo. Pergola is also a Città del Tartufo, with the Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco Pregiato running across three weekends in October.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 3 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 31 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 15 min or Perugia 1 h 27 min.
Coming by train into Rimini? Pergola is about 1 h 15 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Museo dei Bronzi Dorati e della Città di Pergola
Opened 9 October 1999 in the fourteenth-century former convent of San Giacomo, holding the only surviving group of Roman gilded bronze statues, found at Cartoceto in 1946.
Bronzi Dorati da Cartoceto di Pergola
Two standing women, two riders and two horses in gilded bronze from the late Republican period, 50 to 30 BC, the only surviving group of its kind in the world.
Cattedrale di San Secondo
Pergola was a co-cathedral diocese until 1986; the cathedral on the central piazza holds works tied to the medieval and renaissance town.
Centro storico
Medieval centro storico founded 1234 by Gubbio settlers on the Cesano-Cinisco confluence, with later expansions through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from tanning, dyeing and wood crafts.
Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco Pregiato
Three October weekends of white truffle fair, the second-largest in the Marche after Acqualagna, with tasting stands across the centro storico.
Living here
Could you live here?
Pergola meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 5,720 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Fano, a city of 59,903, is 44 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 5,720, down 10.7% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Fano, 44 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €680 to €970 per m² to buy, €2.70 to €3.80 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 in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 89% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 1 h 3 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 15 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Bangladesh and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 81 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the Netherlands, Germany and France. There are 336 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 40% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pesaro e Urbino province ranks 31st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 53 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 58 km as the crow flies.
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 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 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche 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. 7% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. Under 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
BRONZI DORATI
Only surviving group of Roman gilded bronze statues from antiquity, found at Cartoceto in 1946, two women, two riders and two horses from 50-30 BC.
WHITE TRUFFLE
Città del Tartufo with three October weekends of the Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco Pregiato, the second-largest white truffle fair in the Marche.
1234 FOUNDATION
Founded in 1234 by the people of Gubbio with the inhabitants of the surrounding castles, on older Roman ground along the Via Flaminia.
Common questions
- What is Pergola known for?
- Pergola is a hill town at 265 meters in the upper Cesano valley, holding the only surviving group of Roman gilded bronze statues from antiquity.
- Where is Pergola?
- Pergola is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Pergola?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 3 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Pergola?
- About 1 h 15 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Pergola?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Pergola?
- Urbania, Sassoferrato and Matelica.
- How many people live in Pergola?
- 5,720 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Pergola a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Pergola is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Fano, is 44 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 89% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 265 m
- Population: 5,720
- Surface area: 112.4 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 Pergola appears in
Similar
Towns like Pergola
What all six share with Pergola: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 70 km away
Umbria: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Umbria guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: Two banks, no sea. 21 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
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