Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Vallefoglia
A 2014 merger commune in the Foglia valley, born from Colbordolo, birthplace of Raffaello's father, and Sant'Angelo in Lizzola.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Vallefoglia is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città dell'Olio.
Subscribe and you get Vallefoglia's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 45 min from Rimini
- Population
- 15,019
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Vallefoglia was created in 2014 by referendum, when 76.3% of voters approved the merger of Colbordolo and Sant'Angelo in Lizzola, two adjacent communes in the Foglia valley between Pesaro and Urbino. The new commune sits and runs along the river that gives it its name, on the route between the Adriatic coast and the Montefeltro hills. Colbordolo's castle is documented from 1213 in a bull of Pope Innocent III, and in 1446 Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta took it from the Montefeltro after a long siege and burned it.
Giovanni Santi, the painter who fathered Raffaello, was born in Colbordolo around 1440 and ran the workshop in Urbino where his son trained. Sant'Angelo in Lizzola produced the engineer Giovanni Branca (1571-1645) and the Risorgimento statesman Terenzio Mamiani (1799-1885); the circle of Giulio Perticari and his wife Costanza Monti drew Leopardi and Rossini in the nineteenth century. Olive oil from the valley slopes carries the Città dell'Olio signal.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 59 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 3 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 16 min or Bologna 1 h 53 min.
Coming by train into Rimini? Vallefoglia is about 43 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello di Colbordolo
Medieval castle documented from 1213, contested between the Malatesta and the Montefeltro, burned by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in 1446 and rebuilt at lower scale.
Palazzo Mamiani-Della Rovere
Sixteenth-century palace in Sant'Angelo in Lizzola, family seat of the Mamiani della Rovere, who produced Risorgimento statesman Terenzio Mamiani.
Centro storico di Sant'Angelo in Lizzola
Hilltop nucleus on the right bank of the Foglia, with the Piazza della Repubblica, the Chiesa di Sant'Apollinare and views to the Montefeltro ridges.
Casa natale di Giovanni Santi
Birthplace marker in Colbordolo for Giovanni Santi (c. 1440-1494), painter and chronicler of the Montefeltro court and father of Raffaello.
Living here
Could you live here?
Vallefoglia meets our one rule for a small town.
- 15,019 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Pesaro, a city of 95,266, is 16 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 15,019, up 0.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Pesaro, 16 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Pesaro, 7 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,550 per m² to buy, €3.20 to €4.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 77% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rimini airport (RMI), 59 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 16 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 21 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and France. There are 163 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 10% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pesaro e Urbino province ranks 31st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Pesaro, 7 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Rimini, 32 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 32 km as the crow flies.
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, with nothing due on income under €9,000. 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 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.
Climate and risk
1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. Under 1% 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
GIOVANNI SANTI
Painter and chronicler born in Colbordolo c. 1440, father of Raffaello, who ran the Urbino workshop where his son first learned to paint.
TERENZIO MAMIANI
Risorgimento philosopher and statesman from Sant'Angelo in Lizzola (1799-1885), part of the Perticari literary circle that drew Leopardi and Rossini.
FOGLIA OLIVE OIL
Olive oil pressed from the valley slopes between Pesaro and Urbino, the trade that carries the Città dell'Olio signal to the commune.
Common questions
- What is Vallefoglia known for?
- Vallefoglia is a 2014 merger commune at 295 meters in the Foglia valley, born from Colbordolo, birthplace of Raffaello's father, and Sant'Angelo in Lizzola.
- Where is Vallefoglia?
- Vallefoglia is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Vallefoglia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rimini (RMI), about 59 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Vallefoglia?
- About 1 h 16 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Vallefoglia?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Vallefoglia?
- Monteprandone, Recanati and Magione.
- How many people live in Vallefoglia?
- 15,019 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Vallefoglia a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Vallefoglia is a small town that meets our one rule. The nearest city, Pesaro, is 16 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Pesaro, 7 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 77% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 295 m
- Population: 15,019
- Surface area: 39.3 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 Vallefoglia appears in
- The 8 prettiest villages in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoPesaro e Urbino provinceprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 1,132 residents
- The best olive oil towns in MarcheMarcheolive oil8 towns · smallest 2,503 residents
- The 10 prettiest villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villages10 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 23 min away
Similar
Towns like Vallefoglia
What all six share with Vallefoglia: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Vallefoglia 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 Vallefoglia comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Gubbio, 56 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.