Lazio · Roma
Subiaco
The Aniene valley town where Benedict spent three years in a cliff cave, and where Italy's first printed book appeared in 1465.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Subiaco 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 10 min from Rome
- Population
- 8,499
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Subiaco sits along the upper Aniene, seventy-three kilometers east of Rome and forty from Tivoli. Nero built a villa here in the first century, damming the river into artificial lakes known as Sublaqueum, below the lake, and the name outlasted the villa and the emperor both. The town that grew up here reads in layers going up the valley side: the river and the bridge at the bottom, the abbey partway up the hill, the fortress at the summit, and the cliff sanctuary further out along the cliff face that gave the hermit's cave its shelter, each one built at a different remove from the water and from the town center.
What holds these layers together is a single life. A man who came here as a young man to live alone in a cave gave his name to a monastery down the hill, and centuries later that same monastery's press put the first printed book on Italian soil into circulation. The fortress above answers to a different history, the abbots who ruled here as feudal lords, one of whom fathered a child who became one of the most written-about women of her age. A river valley that supplied an emperor's pleasure lakes became, without much overlap, the ground where monastic life took its early shape.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 19 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 30 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 2 h 6 min or Naples 2 h 34 min.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Subiaco is about 1 h 9 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Monastero del Sacro Speco
Built into the cliff face of Monte Taleo, the sanctuary rises in tiers over the cave itself, and the frescoes by Conxolus and the school of Cimabue cover walls that follow the rock rather than a flat plan.
Abbazia di Santa Scolastica
The only one of Benedict's twelve original monasteries still standing, sixth century in origin; its library holds three hundred manuscripts, including a copy of the Lactantius run off the abbey's own press.
Rocca Abbaziale (Rocca dei Borgia)
Set on the highest ground of the borgo, the fortress was raised by abbot Giovanni V in the twelfth century and later gave Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of the abbot Rodrigo Borgia, a birthplace in 1480.
Ponte di San Francesco
A single stone arch over the Aniene, fourteenth century, carrying the pilgrim route out of town toward the two monasteries above.
Aniene river and Neronian lakes
Remains of Nero's three artificial lakes stand upstream, the still water that once gave the settlement below its Latin name.
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.
Contrada RapelloRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (78/100), at Contrada Rapello.
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?
Subiaco meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 8,499 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Tivoli, a city of 55,115, is 53 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 8,499, down 5% since 2015
- Nearest city Tivoli, 53 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €700 to €1,050 per m² to buy, €3.00 to €4.30 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
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 7% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 2 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 10 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Nigeria, against 9% across Italy. There are 289 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 49% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Rome province ranks 46th 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 Rome, 53 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 51 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Little Genius International, 38 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.01% 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 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Lazio spends about €2,270 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €647 a year for water, on the Lazio average. In Rome, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.21, a meal in a pizzeria €11.54 and a man's haircut €17.23.
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. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high 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
FIRST PRINTED BOOK
Konrad Sweynheim and Arnold Pannartz set up Italy's first printing press at Santa Scolastica in 1464 and printed the Lactantius in October 1465.
SACRO SPECO
The cave where Benedict of Nursia lived three years as a hermit around 500 AD, now a frescoed sanctuary built into the cliff of Monte Taleo.
CAMMINO DI SAN BENEDETTO
Three-hundred-kilometer pilgrim path beginning at the Sacro Speco and ending at Montecassino, traced through Benedict's own monasteries.
Common questions
- What is Subiaco known for?
- Subiaco is the Aniene valley town where Benedict spent three years in a cliff cave, and where Italy's first printed book appeared in 1465.
- Where is Subiaco?
- Subiaco is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 408 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Subiaco?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 2 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Subiaco?
- About 2 h 6 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Subiaco?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Subiaco?
- Canale Monterano, Oriolo Romano and Manciano.
- How many people live in Subiaco?
- 8,499 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Subiaco a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Subiaco is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Tivoli, is 53 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 7% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 408 m
- Population: 8,499
- Surface area: 63.23 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 Subiaco appears in
- The best hidden towns inside a nature park in the province of RomaRoma provinceinside a parkhidden6 towns · smallest 217 residents
- The best hill towns inside a nature park within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill towninside a parkwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 217 residents · closest 37 min away
- The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 6,707 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns on the Cammino di San Benedetto in LazioLazioon a walking route6 towns · smallest 273 residents
- The best hill towns in the province of RomaRoma provincehill town7 towns · smallest 217 residents
- The prettiest villages in the province of RomaRoma provinceprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 217 residents
Similar
Towns like Subiaco
What all six share with Subiaco: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 83 km away
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscia guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
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