Marche · Ancona
Serra San Quirico
A stone borgo on Monte Murano at the entrance to the Gola della Rossa, ringed by 1300 walls with covered passageways called copertelle.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 49 min from Ancona
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 2,540
Known for
COPERTELLE
Covered passageways running above the medieval outer walls from around 1300, the true visual signature of the stone borgo.
PARK HEADQUARTERS
The Santa Lucia complex houses the headquarters of the Parco Naturale Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi, covering 9,167 hectares to the south.
SANTA LUCIA
Baroque church next to the park headquarters, with marble decoration, gold-leaf stucco and a Pasqualino Rossi altarpiece.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J9°
- F12°
- M12°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S24°
- O20°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Quirico e Giulitta, 15 July
Why come
Serra San Quirico sits on the left bank of the Esino river, at the foot of Monte Murano and the entrance to the Gola della Rossa, forty-five kilometers from Ancona. Etruscan, Picene and Roman remains have been found in the area; the Romans established a military garrison that grew into the original village. The medieval town is built almost entirely in stone and rock, ringed by walls dating to around 1300.
Above those walls run the Copertelle, covered passageways that line the outer circuit, the true visual signature of the borgo. The Santa Lucia complex, the former monastery in the centro storico, houses the headquarters of the Parco Naturale Regionale della Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi, the 9,167-hectare regional park that runs from Serra south to the Frasassi caves. The Chiesa di Santa Lucia, baroque inside with marble decoration and gold-leaf stucco, sits next door. The Festa del Centro Storico in late July fills the stone lanes with theatrical reenactments.
The Sunday letter
Serra San Quirico 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 every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Serra San Quirico comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Serra San Quirico in our articles
The 6 best towns inside a nature park in the province of Ancona6 towns, Serra San Quirico among them.
The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of Ancona7 towns, Serra San Quirico among them.
The best olive oil towns in Marche8 towns, Serra San Quirico among them.
The 9 best hill towns in the province of Ancona9 towns, Serra San Quirico among them.
How to get there
From Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 37 minutes by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1h 44m away.
By car from the centre of Ancona 49 minutes or Perugia 1h 14m.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Perugia? Serra San Quirico is about 1h 13m away by road.
What to see
Le Copertelle
Covered passageways running above the medieval outer walls from around 1300, the true visual signature of the stone borgo.
Chiesa di Santa Lucia
Baroque church in the centro storico, with marble decoration, gold-leaf stucco and a Pasqualino Rossi seventeenth-century altarpiece.
Parco Naturale Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi
9,167-hectare regional park with headquarters at the Santa Lucia complex in the centro storico, running south to the Frasassi caves.
Centro storico di Serra San Quirico
Stone borgo ringed by walls from around 1300, with the Copertelle covered passageways, recognized with the Bandiera Arancione from the Italian Touring Club.
Gola della Rossa
Limestone gorge cut by the Esino river south of town, opening the access route into the regional park and toward the Frasassi caves.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Serra San Quirico fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Sagra del Coniglio in Porchettafood festival
usually held across July and August. lemarche.it
Living here
- Population 2,540
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 37 min drive
- Regional capital Ancona, 49 min drive
Common questions
- What is Serra San Quirico known for?
- Serra San Quirico is a stone borgo on Monte Murano at the entrance to the Gola della Rossa, ringed by 1300 walls with covered passageways called copertelle.
- Where is Serra San Quirico?
- Serra San Quirico is a comune in the province of Ancona, in Marche, at 409 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Serra San Quirico?
- Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 37 minutes by car.
- Can you get to Serra San Quirico 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 Serra San Quirico?
- About 49 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Serra San Quirico?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Serra San Quirico?
- Yes. Sagra del Coniglio in Porchetta. July is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Serra San Quirico?
- Campello sul Clitunno, Donnas and Moncalvo.
- How many people live in Serra San Quirico?
- 2,540 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 409 m
- Population: 2,540
- Surface area: 49.33 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.
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🟠 Bandiera Arancione
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