The story of Italy's Most Beautiful Villages began just over twenty years ago, yet it feels increasingly fresh and vibrant. When the association of the same name was founded in 2001, its aim was to promote the beauty of Italy’s smaller towns. In our country, in fact, there are countless “forgotten” villages that, despite their rich artistic, historical, and cultural heritage, were for decades not seen as tourist destinations and thus suffered from isolation and depopulation.
Various initiatives promoted by Italy's Most Beautiful Villages – including the recent television contest – have helped enhance and protect over 300 towns scattered across the peninsula. The criteria for selecting villages each year include quality of life, integrity of the urban fabric and building heritage, as well as architectural harmony.
Here we want to suggest the 10 villages we consider most distinctive for spending a different weekend. At the same time, we invite you to visit the official website of the association Italy's Most Beautiful Villages to discover all the others and those closest to your home!
Bobbio
Located in the heart of the Trebbia Valley in Emilia Romagna, Bobbio is the winner of the 2019 edition. This small town in the Piacenza area offers visitors places of great historical and cultural interest, also shrouded in a veil of mystery.
For example, there is the Ponte Gobbo, also known as the Old Bridge or Devil’s Bridge, a true symbol of the village. Characterized by a series of humps and irregularities, this bridge, impossible to date precisely, has inspired numerous legends over the centuries..
One of these tells of Saint Columbanus negotiating with the Devil to build the bridge as quickly as possible. To honor the pact, the Saint sacrificed himself to certain death.
After decades of progressive depopulation, Civita di Bagnoregio has undergone an important tourism revival that has made it famous worldwide. Today, it’s the perfect place to experience Italy in a new and different way, always in the company of fellow travelers!