Liguria · Imperia
Perinaldo
A ridge village at 572 meters, birthplace of Giovanni Domenico Cassini and home to a working astronomical observatory in his name.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Perinaldo is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Città dell'Olio.
Subscribe and you get Perinaldo's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 2 h 12 min from Genoa
- Population
- 789
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A15°
- M19°
- J23°
- J26°
- A27°
- S23°
- O19°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Perinaldo sits seven kilometers inland from Bordighera and the French border, on a ridge above the Val Nervia. The medieval centro storico is built in concentric rings around the old castle, a compact plan that ties church, castle, and town hall together within a short walk of each other.
The astronomer left for Bologna and then for the court of Louis XIV in Paris, where he directed the new Royal Observatory. He did not return, but he sent a canvas back to the Suffragio altar of the parish church in 1672, and the meridian his calculations helped fix is still marked on the sundial of the smaller church on the ridge. The terraces below the village grow Taggiasca olives, the basis of its Città dell'Olio standing. Perinaldo also holds Borghi più belli and Bandiera Arancione recognition.
The village's shape, ring upon ring around a single high point, mirrors the way its history keeps circling back to one native mind that left for Paris and never stopped sending word home.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 2 h 7 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 3 h 23 min away.
By car from the center of Milan 3 h 30 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Osservatorio Astronomico G. D. Cassini
A dome rises from the inner courtyard of the town hall. On observation evenings the working instrument inside is put to the same sky Cassini once charted from far greater distance, in Paris.
Chiesa di San Nicola da Bari
Parish church built in 1489, holding a fifteenth-century wooden crucifix and, on the Suffragio altar, a canvas sent back from Paris by its most famous native son.
Chiesa della Visitazione
Smaller church on the ridge, fitted with a meridian sundial calibrated using the astronomical methods developed by the town's native astronomer.
Castello dei Conti Maraldi
Old village castle at the heart of the medieval centro storico, its houses arranged in concentric rings on the ridge, the site where Cassini was born in 1625.
Belvedere
Ridge viewpoint with sightlines down the Val Nervia to the sea and north into the Alpi Liguri toward Mount Toraggio.
Living here
Could you live here?
Perinaldo is at the end of the road.
- A village of 789. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Vallecrosia, is 23 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Sanremo, a city of 53,059, 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 789, down 7.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Sanremo, 39 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sanremo, 9 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,050 to €1,550 per m² to buy, €4.50 to €6.20 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 69% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Genoa airport (GOA), 2 h 7 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Genoa, 2 h 12 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
19% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from France, Romania and Germany, against 9% across Italy. 71 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France, Germany and the United Kingdom. There are 322 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 71% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Imperia province ranks 80th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Bordighera, 8 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Pietra Ligure, 57 km away. The nearest IB school is Deledda International School, 118 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, 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 Liguria spends about €2,230 a month, €490 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €552 a year for water, on the Liguria 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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 8% 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
CASSINI
Giovanni Domenico Cassini, born here in 1625, mapped four moons of Saturn and gave his name to the Cassini Division in its rings.
OSSERVATORIO
Working municipal astronomical observatory in the town hall, with regular evening sessions and a dedicated educational program.
OLIO TAGGIASCO
Taggiasca olive oil from the terraces below the ridge, the basis for the Città dell'Olio membership.
Common questions
- What is Perinaldo known for?
- Perinaldo is a ridge village at 572 meters, birthplace of Giovanni Domenico Cassini and home to a working astronomical observatory in his name.
- Where is Perinaldo?
- Perinaldo is a comune in the province of Imperia, in Liguria.
- What is the nearest airport to Perinaldo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 2 h 7 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Perinaldo?
- About 3 h 30 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Perinaldo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Perinaldo?
- Seborga, Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena and Garbagna.
- How many people live in Perinaldo?
- 789 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Perinaldo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Perinaldo is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Vallecrosia, is 23 min away. The nearest city, Sanremo, is 39 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sanremo, 9 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 69% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 572 m
- Population: 789
- Surface area: 20.3 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 Perinaldo appears in
- The best hill towns in the province of ImperiaImperia provincehill town6 towns · smallest 284 residents
- The best olive oil towns in the province of ImperiaImperia provinceolive oil9 towns · smallest 601 residents
- The prettiest small villages in the province of ImperiaImperia provinceprettiest villagessmall9 towns · smallest 284 residents
- The 10 smallest villages in LiguriaLiguriasmall10 towns · smallest 126 residents
Similar
Towns like Perinaldo
What all six share with Perinaldo: inland, away from the coast · under 1,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Perinaldo 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Perinaldo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 130 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.