Umbria · Perugia
Preci
A walled Valnerina village at 596 meters that ran Europe's leading school of surgery for three centuries until the 2016 quake brought the borgo down.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Preci is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Cittaslow.
The nearest town with a letter is Campello sul Clitunno, No. 77, 22 km away.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 41 min from Perugia
- Population
- 686
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A15°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A30°
- S24°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Preci sits at 596 meters in the Castoriana valley, inside the Monti Sibillini National Park and within driving distance of both Spoleto and Norcia. The walled borgo is crossed by the Campiano river and surrounded by mountain pasture. The Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio, just outside the walls, is one of the oldest monasteries in Italy, founded by Syrian Benedictine monks in the fifth century.
Their accumulated medical knowledge gave rise to the Preci school of surgery, which from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century supplied surgeons to royal courts across Europe; the local specialists worked in extraction of kidney stones, cataract surgery and hernia repair. Noble palaces of the surgeon families still line the centro storico. The town was nearly destroyed by the 30 October 2016 earthquake, magnitude 6.5, which heavily damaged Sant'Eutizio; reconstruction is still in progress. The Borghi più belli, Cittaslow and Parco Nazionale recognitions were retained through the rebuild.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 2 h 4 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 46 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 41 min, Ancona 2 h 1 min or Pescara 2 h 35 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio
Benedictine monastery of 5th-century foundation, considered a place of origin for the Benedictine Order, heavily damaged in 2016 and under reconstruction.
Centro storico fortificato
Walled medieval borgo on a hillside in the Castoriana valley, with noble palaces of the 16th-18th centuries built by the surgeon families.
Museo della Scuola Chirurgica
Surgical school museum inside the Sant'Eutizio complex documenting the work of Preci surgeons from the 13th to 18th centuries.
Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini
National park surrounding the commune, with trails to Piano Grande di Castelluccio and the Sibillini peaks above 2,000 meters.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Guaita Sant'EutizioTrattoria
Guaita Sant'Eutizio holds two Gambero Rosso prawns.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Preci is at the end of the road.
- A village of 686. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Camerino, is 53 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Foligno, a city of 55,303, is 1 h 2 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 686, down 7.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Foligno, 1 h 2 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Norcia, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 23 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Perugia, 1 h 41 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
14% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Ghana, against 9% across Italy. There are 307 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 76% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Perugia province ranks 37th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Norcia, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 45 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 92 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Assisi International School, 41 km away.
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 0.1% to your income tax. 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 Umbria spends about €2,310 a month, €550 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €677 a year for water, on the Umbria average. In Perugia, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.23, a meal in a pizzeria €12.04 and a man's haircut €20.47.
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. 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
SCUOLA CHIRURGICA
Surgeons from Preci treated royal courts across Europe between the 13th and 18th centuries, specializing in stones, cataracts, and hernias.
SANT'EUTIZIO
Benedictine abbey of 5th-century foundation, considered a place of origin for the Benedictine Order in central Italy.
2016 EARTHQUAKE
Magnitude 6.5 quake on 30 October 2016 brought down most of the borgo and heavily damaged Sant'Eutizio; reconstruction continues.
IGP ZONES
The commune lies inside the Caciottone di Norcia and Prosciutto di Norcia IGP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Preci known for?
- Preci is a walled Valnerina village at 596 meters that ran Europe's leading school of surgery for three centuries until the 2016 quake brought the borgo down.
- Where is Preci?
- Preci is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Preci?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 23 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Preci?
- About 1 h 41 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Preci?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Preci?
- Visso, Monteverde and Roseto Valfortore.
- How many people live in Preci?
- 686 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Preci a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Preci is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Camerino, is 53 min away. The nearest city, Foligno, is 1 h 2 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Norcia, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 596 m
- Population: 686
- Surface area: 82.03 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 Preci appears in
- The 6 best mountain towns within 90 minutes of TerniNear Ternimountainwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 273 residents · closest 26 min away
- The 6 best small towns that eat well in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceeats wellsmall6 towns · smallest 686 residents
- The best towns that live slowly in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceslow living7 towns · smallest 686 residents
- The prettiest villages that eat well within 90 minutes of TerniNear Terniwithin 90 mineats wellprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 686 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best cheese towns within two hours of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 2 hourscheese zone9 towns · smallest 539 residents · closest 81 min away
- The best small towns that eat well in UmbriaUmbriaeats wellsmall9 towns · smallest 686 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 77.
Campello sul Clitunno
Province: Perugia
Springs of the Clitunno and the Lombard Tempietto on the valley floor at 290 meters, the temple inscribed by UNESCO in 2011.
22 km away
- Written about. No. 90.
Trevi
Province: Perugia
A walled town at 412 meters above the Spoleto valley, ringed by 200,000 olive trees that make it the Umbrian capital of olive oil.
23 km away
- Written about. No. 86.
Scheggino
Province: Perugia
Triangular castle village on the banks of the Nera at 280 meters, where the first commercial Italian truffle company was founded in 1852.
25 km away
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 74 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.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.