Marche · Ancona
Sirolo
A clifftop borgo, above the Due Sorelle sea stacks of the Adriatic.
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 31 min from Ancona
- Population
- 4,097
Known for
MONTE CONERO
The only coastal high point on the Adriatic between Trieste and the Gargano, 572 meters of limestone above the sea.
DUE SORELLE
Twin sea stacks below the cliffs, reachable only by boat, the defining seascape of the Riviera del Conero.
PICENE QUEEN
Late sixth-century BC tomb excavated above town, with two chariots and a gig now held in the Antiquarium Statale in Numana.
When to visit
Best · May–Sep
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 11°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Nicola di Bari, 9 May
Why come
Sirolo sits, twenty kilometers from Ancona, on ground that belonged to the Conti Cortesi family. The medieval village kept one of the two original castle towers, folded now into the parish church, and the belvedere above Piazza Vittorio Veneto looks out across the bay. Below town, the ridge drops toward the Picene necropolis of I Pini, and further down still toward the water.
The mountain above the village and the water below it are the same geology: limestone that falls straight into the sea rather than tapering through a coastal plain, which is why the village sits on a clifftop rather than a shoreline. Upper Sirolo is the castle, the church and the theatre, all cut from the same pale stone. Lower Sirolo is reached by boat or by trail, down through the park to the cove where the sea stacks stand.
The grave goods from the necropolis have left town entirely, kept at the Antiquarium in neighbouring Numana, so what remains above ground here is the tomb site itself rather than its contents. The town doubles in summer and empties again in October: a place shaped less by what happens in it than by the drop between its two levels, the built one and the wild one.
The Sunday letter
Sirolo 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 Sirolo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Sirolo in our articles
The 6 best towns inside a nature park in the province of Ancona6 towns, Sirolo among them.
The 6 best towns that eat well in the province of Ancona6 towns, Sirolo among them.
The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of Ancona6 towns, Sirolo among them.
The best hidden coastal towns in Marche6 towns, Sirolo among them.
How to get there
From Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 44 minutes by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1h 47m away.
By car from the centre of Ancona 31 minutes or Pescara 1h 50m.
What to see
Centro storico
Medieval village on the clifftop with the Arco Gotico from around the year 1000, the Piazzetta and a belvedere looking out across the Adriatic.
Chiesa di San Nicolò di Bari
Eighteenth-century parish church built over a thirteenth-century structure, incorporating one of the two surviving towers of the medieval Sirolo castle.
Teatro Cortesi
Municipal theatre inaugurated in 1875, built in white Conero stone, restored and reopened in 1989.
Necropoli picena de I Pini
Burial ground above town where the tomb was excavated, dated to the late sixth century BC.
Spiaggia delle Due Sorelle
Beach beneath the cliffs, reachable only by boat, dominated by the stacks that give the cove its name.
Parco del Conero
Regional natural park covering Monte Conero and the surrounding ridge, with marked trails from town down to the sea.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Sirolo 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.
We recommend
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.
Living here
- Population 4,097
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 44 min drive
- Regional capital Ancona, 31 min drive
Common questions
- What is Sirolo known for?
- Sirolo is a clifftop borgo at 125 meters, above the Due Sorelle sea stacks of the Adriatic.
- Where is Sirolo?
- Sirolo is a comune in the province of Ancona, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Sirolo?
- Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 44 minutes by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Sirolo?
- About 31 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sirolo?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Sirolo?
- The town keeps its patron saint's day: Nicola di Bari, 9 May.
- Which other towns are like Sirolo?
- Numana, Miglianico and Gradara.
- How many people live in Sirolo?
- 4,097 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 125 m
- Population: 4,097
- Surface area: 16.68 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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