Marche · Macerata
San Severino Marche
A two-level town where a 224-meter elliptical piazza in the lower city looks up at a fortified hill crowned by a medieval tower and Salimbeni-painted churches.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why San Severino Marche is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 11 min from Ancona
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 11,787
- J11°
- F14°
- M14°
- A17°
- M23°
- J29°
- J33°
- A32°
- S26°
- O22°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
San Severino Marche sits in the Potenza valley, fifty kilometers southwest of Ancona, and the town is built in two distinct pieces rather than one continuous fabric. The medieval Castello occupies the hill above the town, still ringed by surviving city walls, while the Borgo below grew up around its own civic center on the valley floor. The two parts do different jobs: the hill was governed and defended, walled and towered under the Smeducci dynasty through the fourteenth century, while the valley floor was built for markets and public life, organized around the wide colonnaded ellipse that still serves as the town's gathering space.
The Salimbeni brothers, Lorenzo and Jacopo, were born in the town and worked across both halves of it, painting in a hilltop church and in a crypt-church alike, and their frescoes, along with a Vittore Crivelli polyptych, have since been gathered into a civic gallery in the lower town. That movement of paintings from hill to valley mirrors the town's own shift in weight over time, from a fortified seat of government above to a civic and commercial center below, with the art now sitting closer to the square than to the walls that first sheltered it.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 59 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 5 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 11 min or Perugia 1 h 36 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza del Popolo
The elliptical square anchors the lower town, its porticoes running unbroken around the full curve, giving the Borgo a single continuous gathering space rather than a scattering of smaller squares.
Duomo Vecchio
The bell tower and the raised setting on Monte Nero are what register first, the cathedral standing above the walls rather than among them. Inside, the chapel that once held the Salimbeni Saint John cycle is now empty, the frescoes moved elsewhere in town.
Torre degli Smeducci
The tower is the only structure on the hill that reads as purely defensive, plain where the church nearby is decorated, and it still dominates the skyline of the upper town.
Pinacoteca Civica Tacchi Venturi
The gallery, inside Palazzo Manuzzini, gathers what the churches no longer hold: the recovered Duomo Vecchio frescoes, Salimbeni panels, and a Vittore Crivelli Madonna and Saints polyptych, letting the painting be studied at close range rather than from a nave floor.
Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Doliolo
The town's oldest church, built over a crypt probably dating to the sixth century, where Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni painted the Stories of Saint Andrew on the vault.
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.
CavalliniRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (76/100) for Cavallini, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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?
San Severino Marche meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 11,787 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Macerata, a city of 40,585, is 44 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 11,787, down 8% since 2015
- Nearest city Macerata, 44 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €800 to €1,350 per m² to buy, €3.30 to €6.70 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
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 93% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 59 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Saturday
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 11 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Romania and India, against 9% across Italy. 38 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. There are 271 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 33% 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
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 46 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 46 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 104 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 44 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 between 0.6% and 0.79% to your income tax, depending on your income. 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 D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 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
SALIMBENI BROTHERS
Fifteenth-century painters Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni were born here; their works decorate the Duomo Vecchio chapel and San Lorenzo in Doliolo.
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO
224-meter elliptical square in the lower city surrounded by porticoed colonnades, one of the largest civic spaces in the Marche.
DUOMO VECCHIO
Romanesque-gothic cathedral consecrated 1304 on Monte Nero, on the site of the 944 cathedral, with a fourteenth-century bell tower.
VERNACCIA DI SERRAPETRONA
The commune lies inside the Vernaccia di Serrapetrona DOCG production zone.
Common questions
- What is San Severino Marche known for?
- San Severino Marche is a two-level town where a 224-meter elliptical piazza in the lower city looks up at a fortified hill crowned by a medieval tower and Salimbeni-painted churches.
- Where is San Severino Marche?
- San Severino Marche is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche, at 235 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to San Severino Marche?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 59 min by car.
- Can you get to San Severino Marche without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to San Severino Marche?
- About 1 h 11 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit San Severino Marche?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like San Severino Marche?
- Todi, Sermoneta and Nizza Monferrato.
- How many people live in San Severino Marche?
- 11,787 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is San Severino Marche a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, San Severino Marche is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Macerata, is 44 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 93% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 235 m
- Population: 11,787
- Surface area: 194.26 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 Severino Marche appears in
- The 6 best hidden hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarchehill townserious restauranthidden6 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
- The best towns that eat well in the province of MacerataMacerata provinceeats well6 towns · smallest 7,394 residents
- The best hidden hill towns you can reach by train in MarcheMarchehill townby trainhidden7 towns · smallest 1,648 residents
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconahill townby trainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 1,648 residents · closest 46 min away
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconaby trainwithin 90 mineats well8 towns · smallest 7,394 residents · closest 28 min away
- The best wine towns within two hours of AnconaNear Anconawithin 2 hourswine zone9 towns · smallest 2,120 residents · closest 25 min away
Similar
Towns like San Severino Marche
What all six share with San Severino Marche: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
- Written about. No. 72.
Todi
Province: Perugia
both have a railway station in the comune
Sermoneta
Province: Latina
both have a railway station in the comune
Nizza Monferrato
Province: Asti
both have a railway station in the comune
Castiglion Fiorentino
Province: Arezzo
both have a railway station in the comune
Anagni
Province: Frosinone
both have a railway station in the comune
Urbino
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 80 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.