Emilia-Romagna · Rimini
Verucchio
A spur over the lower Marecchia valley, cradle of the Villanovan civilization and birthplace of the Malatesta lordship of Romagna.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Verucchio 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
- 27 min from Rimini
- Population
- 10,077
- J9°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- 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
Verucchio sits on a 330-meter spur over the lower Marecchia valley, eighteen kilometers from Rimini and within sight of the Adriatic plain. A Villanovan settlement occupied this ridge from the twelfth to the seventh century BC and left a necropolis whose chamber tombs, amber, bronze, and worked wood form the Museo Civico Archeologico collection now housed in the former Augustinian convent. The town is also the home ground of the Malatesta, named for Malatesta da Verucchio, founder of the lordship that would rule Rimini, Cesena, Pesaro, Fano and Fossombrone for two centuries; his Rocca Malatestiana, also called Castel del Sasso, is one of the largest and best-preserved Malatesta fortifications and his birthplace.
A second fortress, the Rocca del Passerello, holds the lower end of the ridge. The commune extends to the frazione of Villa Verucchio, where the cypress planted by Saint Francis of Assisi during a 1213 visit still grows in the convent cloister.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 48 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 25 min away.
By car from the center of Bologna 1 h 36 min or Ancona 1 h 38 min.
Coming from Bologna?
Coming by train into Rimini? Verucchio is about 27 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca Malatestiana
Twelfth-to-sixteenth-century fortress on the highest point of the ridge, birthplace of Malatesta da Verucchio and one of the largest Malatesta fortifications surviving.
Museo Civico Archeologico
Villanovan archaeology museum in the former Augustinian convent, holding amber jewelry, bronze armour and a wooden throne from the seventh-century BC necropolis.
Rocca del Passerello
Second Malatesta fortress at the lower end of the ridge, smaller than the Sasso but built into the same defensive system in the fourteenth century.
Collegiata di Verucchio
Eighteenth-century collegiate church on the main piazza, holding a wooden crucifix from the school of Giotto and a fifteenth-century painted panel attributed to Nicolò di Pietro.
Cipresso di San Francesco
Cypress planted in the Villa Verucchio Franciscan convent cloister by Saint Francis in 1213, still alive and recognized as one of the oldest in Italy.
Living here
Could you live here?
Verucchio meets our one rule for a small town.
- 10,077 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Rimini, a city of 150,333, is 27 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 10,077, up 0.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Rimini, 27 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Santarcangelo di Romagna, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,400 to €1,950 per m² to buy, €5.00 to €7.40 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 89% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rimini airport (RMI), 48 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 36 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Senegal and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 25 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France. There are 210 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 17% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Rimini province ranks 51st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Rimini, 10 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 14 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 between 0.53% and 0.79% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €15,000. 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 Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Rimini, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.36, a meal in a pizzeria €12.64 and a man's haircut €22.02.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 31% 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
VILLANOVAN CRADLE
Twelfth-to-seventh-century BC settlement on the ridge, with a necropolis whose finds form one of the richest Villanovan collections in Italy.
MALATESTA BIRTHPLACE
Birthplace of Malatesta da Verucchio, founder of the lordship that ruled Rimini and most of Romagna from the late thirteenth century onward.
CIPRESSO DI SAN FRANCESCO
Cypress planted by Saint Francis in 1213 in the cloister of the Villa Verucchio convent, still living after eight centuries.
Common questions
- What is Verucchio known for?
- Verucchio is a spur over the lower Marecchia valley, cradle of the Villanovan civilization and birthplace of the Malatesta lordship of Romagna.
- Where is Verucchio?
- Verucchio is a comune in the province of Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna, at 330 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Verucchio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rimini (RMI), about 48 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bologna to Verucchio?
- About 1 h 36 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Verucchio?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Verucchio?
- Bertinoro, Mercogliano and Casamassima.
- How many people live in Verucchio?
- 10,077 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Verucchio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Verucchio is a small town that meets our one rule. The nearest city, Rimini, is 27 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Santarcangelo di Romagna, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 89% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 330 m
- Population: 10,077
- Surface area: 27.3 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.
Similar
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What all six share with Verucchio: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
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