Marche · Macerata
San Ginesio
The Balcony of the Sibillini at 680 meters, where a 1295 pilgrim hospital and the only flowery gothic collegiate church in the Marche stand within the same walls.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why San Ginesio is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 17 min from Ancona
- Population
- 3,048
- J8°
- F11°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
San Ginesio sits at 680 meters on a hill in the Macerata province, fifth highest commune in the province, on ground that Norman bourgeoisie first fortified in the tenth century to control the valley below. The town ran for a time as a free republic before joining the Papal States under Cardinal Albornoz's fourteenth-century constitutions, and it passed under the Da Varano of Camerino from 1355 to 1434. A rivalry with the March of Fermo was settled at the Battle of Fornarina on 30 November 1377.
The historic center gathers its civic and religious buildings around one square, the church, the hospital and the town hall standing within sight of each other, a layout that still reads as the working core of the old republic. Outside the walls the ground rises toward the Sibillini massif, and the commune's territory reaches into the national park, so the same town that faces a piazza of medieval stone also has trails running from its western frazioni up into high pasture. The 2016 earthquake damaged many buildings and reconstruction is ongoing. What the centuries of fortification, republic, and rivalry left behind is a hill town whose walls still look both ways: down over the valley it once controlled, and out toward the mountains that give it its name.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 22 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 25 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 17 min, Perugia 1 h 28 min or Pescara 2 h.
Coming by train into Perugia? San Ginesio is about 1 h 27 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Collegiata della Santissima Annunziata
Fourteenth-century brick facade holds a Bernardino di Mariotto altarpiece inside. The building anchors one side of the square it faces.
Ospedale dei Pellegrini
Sandstone columns with leaf capitals support the lower portico, an example of domus hospitales built along the pilgrim road. The brick loggia added above sits a century and a half later than the ground floor.
Piazza Gentili
Central piazza of the centro storico, anchored by the Collegiata, the Palazzo del Comune and the Ospedale dei Pellegrini.
Balcony of the Sibillini
Panorama from the walls running from the Conero across Monte Vettore, Cima del Redentore and Monte Sibilla to Monte Ascensione and the Gran Sasso.
Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini
The commune territory extends into the Sibillini park, with trails climbing from the western frazioni toward the high pastures and Monte Vettore.
Living here
Could you live here?
San Ginesio is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,048. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Tolentino, is 22 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Macerata, a city of 40,585, is 37 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 3,048, down 14.6% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Macerata, 37 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Amandola, 13 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €550 to €850 per m² to buy, €2.10 to €3.40 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 63% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 20 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 17 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, the United Kingdom and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 83 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands. There are 336 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 46% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Macerata province ranks 26th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Amandola, 13 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 54 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 122 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche 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 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 0.7% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €9,500. 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 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. In Macerata, the provincial capital, in September 2026, a man's haircut €24.41.
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 medium flood zone. 7% 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
BALCONY OF THE SIBILLINI
Panorama from the walls reaching across Monte Vettore, the Sibillini ridge and Monte Ascensione to the Gran Sasso, the view that gives the town its nickname.
OSPEDALE DEI PELLEGRINI
1295 Romanesque pilgrim hospital with a sandstone portico and a 1457 upper brick loggia, sheltering travelers on the road to Rome.
FLOWERY GOTHIC COLLEGIATA
The Santissima Annunziata, only flowery gothic collegiate church in the Marche, with a brick facade dominating Piazza Gentili.
Common questions
- What is San Ginesio known for?
- San Ginesio is the Balcony of the Sibillini at 680 meters, where a 1295 pilgrim hospital and the only flowery gothic collegiate church in the Marche stand within the same walls.
- Where is San Ginesio?
- San Ginesio is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to San Ginesio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 20 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to San Ginesio?
- About 1 h 17 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit San Ginesio?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like San Ginesio?
- Camerino, Gesualdo and Morcone.
- How many people live in San Ginesio?
- 3,048 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is San Ginesio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, San Ginesio is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Tolentino, is 22 min away. The nearest city, Macerata, is 37 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Amandola, 13 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 63% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 680 m
- Population: 3,048
- Surface area: 78.02 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 San Ginesio appears in
- The best towns inside a national park in MarcheMarcheinside a park6 towns · smallest 872 residents
- The best mountain towns within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiamountainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 346 residents · closest 64 min away
- The prettiest villages in the province of MacerataMacerata provinceprettiest villages9 towns · smallest 926 residents
Similar
Towns like San Ginesio
What all six share with San Ginesio: mountain-valley towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 90 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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