It is the least populous comune in Italy, a record it has disputed for years with Pedesina, on the other side of the mountains. A census of the early twentieth century says what kind of place this was: 432 inhabitants, of whom only 142 were permanent and 290 were bergamini, the transhumant herdsmen who stayed up here only for the summer. Those who lived here all year were half as many as those who came up with the pastures.
Right after the armistice of 1943 the priest's house became a gathering point for escaped prisoners, soldiers left adrift and Jews on the run: a village this isolated was the right place not to be found. Today Morterone has an open-air museum of contemporary art, and in summer it fills up again — local families and visitors, as the bergamini once did.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Morterone
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Morterone, but an easy day trip away.