Marche · Macerata
Sarnano
A 539-meter medieval borgo of baked brick at the foot of the Sibillini, with thermal springs that ran for 84 years until the 2016 earthquake.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Sarnano is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 25 min from Ancona
- Population
- 3,036
- J9°
- F12°
- M12°
- A15°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O20°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Sarnano sits on a hill within the Monti Sibillini National Park, seventy kilometers from Ancona. The old free commune built its civic center at the top of the settlement, where the square gathers the palazzi of the medieval government side by side with the church, a small stage for a town that once governed itself. Below, the brick lanes drop away in concentric rings, the same baked brick used for houses that bridge the streets overhead and for small doors set into the walls to mark where the dead were once carried out.
The spa lay downhill from the old town, drawing on springs pure enough to be used for respiratory, rheumatic and joint treatments from the 1930s until the earthquake of 24 August 2016 shut the historical building down; a new facility is being built to replace it. Above the town, on Sassotetto, the ski slopes and the Sasso Spaccato mark the upper territory as the seasonal counterpart to the streets below. The town reads, then, as a set of layers stacked by elevation and by era: a governing hilltop, a residential brick warren beneath it, a therapeutic spa at the edge, and a working mountain above, each holding its own use across centuries rather than competing for the same one.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 29 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 33 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 25 min, Perugia 1 h 35 min or Pescara 1 h 55 min.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza Alta
The fourteenth-century Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori and Palazzo del Podestà stand together on the small civic stage of the old free commune, the church at their side.
Centro storico di Sarnano
The lanes wind in concentric rings, crossed overhead by ponte houses, and small bricked-up doors of the dead are set into the walls at intervals along the brick.
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Piazza Alta
Romanesque-gothic facade on the square's church, which once held the town's civic art collection, since moved to the Pinacoteca.
Terme di Sarnano
The historical spa building stands closed since the 2016 earthquake, its springs still oligomineral and unused, while a replacement facility takes shape elsewhere.
Sassotetto
Downhill and cross-country runs cross the slope above town, with the Sasso Spaccato marking the upper ground nearby.
Living here
Could you live here?
Sarnano is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,036. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Tolentino, is 29 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- 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.
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 3,036, down 7.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Macerata, 44 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Amandola, 7 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €600 to €900 per m² to buy, €2.50 to €3.80 per m² a month to rent
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 82% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 25 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 25 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, North Macedonia and Kosovo, against 9% across Italy. 34 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom and Germany. There are 279 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 59% 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, 7 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 62 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 119 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 47 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 0.7% 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 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. 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
BRICK BORGO
Medieval centro storico built almost entirely in baked brick, with ponte houses crossing the lanes and the highest point at Piazza Alta.
TERME DI SARNANO
Oligomineral thermal spa opened in the 1930s, used for respiratory and rheumatic treatments until the 2016 earthquake closed the historical site.
SASSOTETTO
Ski slopes on Monte Sassotetto at 1,330 meters above town, with downhill and cross-country runs through winter.
Common questions
- What is Sarnano known for?
- Sarnano is a 539-meter medieval borgo of baked brick at the foot of the Sibillini, with thermal springs that ran for 84 years until the 2016 earthquake.
- Where is Sarnano?
- Sarnano is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche, at 539 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Sarnano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 25 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Sarnano?
- About 1 h 25 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sarnano?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Sarnano?
- Amandola, Sassoferrato and Pergola.
- How many people live in Sarnano?
- 3,036 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Sarnano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Sarnano is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Tolentino, is 29 min away. The nearest city, Macerata, is 44 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Amandola, 7 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 82% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 539 m
- Population: 3,036
- Surface area: 63.17 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 Sarnano appears in
Similar
Towns like Sarnano
What all six share with Sarnano: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
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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