Campania · Avellino
Taurasi
An Irpinia wine village above the Calore valley, the southern home of Aglianico called Barolo of the South.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Taurasi is on our list
It holds Città del Vino.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 14 min from Salerno
- Population
- 2,097
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S27°
- O22°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Taurasi sits at four hundred meters on a hill in the Media Valle del Calore, in the Irpinia of the Avellino province, forty kilometers inland from Salerno. The castle above the town was built in the seventh century by the Lombards, destroyed by Saracen raids between 900 and 910, rebuilt and extended by the Normans in the twelfth century with a square keep, and partly destroyed again by Alfonso d'Aragona's troops in 1461. The Gesualdo, Filangieri, Ludovisi and Carafa families took it in turn through the early modern period, each leaving their mark on a structure that was never allowed to settle into a single style.
The upper ridge holds the castle and its history of damage and repair. The lower town holds the parish church and its patronal feast, the daily religious life set apart from the fortress above. Between them, the medieval center keeps three gates and the noble palaces that once answered to whichever family held the keep.
Around all of it, the vineyards run down the slopes, the same ground that has outlasted every family that held the castle above it. What the place adds up to is a hill town where the fortress changed hands over and over while the vines below kept producing, so the wine, not the castle, became the more durable claim to distinction.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 1 h 21 min by car.
Bari (BRI) is about 2 h 16 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 1 h 14 min, Naples 1 h 25 min or Bari 2 h 20 min.
Coming by train into Salerno? Taurasi is about 1 h 17 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Marchionale
The keep stands on the upper ridge, its stone showing the patchwork of repeated rebuilding across centuries of raids and sieges. The square Norman keep is the most legible surviving structure.
Enoteca Regionale
Regional wine cellar inside the castle, with a Percorso Tau sensory route through the Taurasi, Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo appellations.
Centro storico
Medieval village with three surviving gates, Porta Sant'Angelo, Porta Piccola and Porta Maggiore, and noble palaces with corner towers.
Chiesa di San Marciano
Parish church in the lower town, the patronal seat, with an annual feast on 14 June and a baroque interior largely intact.
Vineyards
Aglianico slopes surrounding the town, worked by roughly forty producers, most of them family operations.
Living here
Could you live here?
Taurasi is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,097. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Mirabella Eclano, is 17 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Benevento, a city of 55,712, is 37 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 2,097, down 12.7% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Benevento, 37 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Avellino, 19 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €530 to €650 per m² to buy, €2.10 to €2.50 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 87% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 1 h 21 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 1 h 25 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Morocco and Romania, against 9% across Italy. There are 299 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 35% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Avellino province ranks 77th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Avellino, 19 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 228 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 65 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 0.8% 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 Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average. In Avellino, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20, a meal in a pizzeria €16.06 and a man's haircut €15.95.
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 high for floods, under 1% in a high or medium one. 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
TAURASI DOCG
Aglianico-based red, first southern Italian DOCG since 1993, aged minimum three years; the wine called the Barolo of the South.
CASTELLO MARCHIONALE
Lombard-Norman castle on the ridge, rebuilt after Saracen and Aragonese damage, now the seat of Campania's Enoteca Regionale.
AGLIANICO
Ancient grape introduced by Greek settlers, grown on volcanic soils between 400 and 500 meters, the foundation of the appellation.
IRPINIA - COLLINE DELL'UFITA
The commune also lies inside the Irpinia - Colline dell'Ufita DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Taurasi known for?
- Taurasi is an Irpinia wine village at 400 meters above the Calore valley, the southern home of Aglianico called Barolo of the South.
- Where is Taurasi?
- Taurasi is a comune in the province of Avellino, in Campania.
- What is the nearest airport to Taurasi?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 1 h 21 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Taurasi?
- About 1 h 14 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Taurasi?
- 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 Taurasi?
- Auletta, Sant'Angelo Le Fratte and Montefiore Conca.
- How many people live in Taurasi?
- 2,097 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Taurasi a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Taurasi is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Mirabella Eclano, is 17 min away. The nearest city, Benevento, is 37 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Avellino, 19 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 87% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 400 m
- Population: 2,097
- Surface area: 14.41 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 Taurasi appears in
- The best wine towns within 90 minutes of NaplesNear Napleswithin 90 minwine zone7 towns · smallest 756 residents · closest 53 min away
- The 8 best wine towns within 90 minutes of SalernoNear Salernowinewithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 683 residents · closest 22 min away
- The best small wine towns in CampaniaCampaniawinesmall8 towns · smallest 683 residents
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of SalernoNear Salernohill townwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 576 residents · closest 49 min away
- The best olive oil towns within two hours of SalernoNear Salernowithin 2 hoursolive oil zone9 towns · smallest 904 residents · closest 59 min away
- The best olive oil towns within two hours of NaplesNear Napleswithin 2 hoursolive oil zone10 towns · smallest 904 residents · closest 70 min away
Similar
Towns like Taurasi
What all six share with Taurasi: under 3,000 people · hill towns
Auletta
Province: Salerno
both inland, away from the coast
Sant'Angelo Le Fratte
Province: Potenza
both inland, away from the coast
Montefiore Conca
Province: Rimini
both inland, away from the coast
Pietramontecorvino
Province: Foggia
both inland, away from the coast
Santa Severina
Province: Crotone
both inland, away from the coast
Pico
Province: Frosinone
The letter
Taurasi 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Taurasi comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 258 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.