What is Caiazzo known for?

Franco Pepe's pizzeria, opened 2012 in an eighteenth-century palazzo, ranked best in the world by Michelin in 2018 and serving 800 pizzas a day. Indigenous Caserta grape recovered in the 1990s, vinified in white and black versions on the Caiazzo slopes alongside Casavecchia red. Member of the slow city network, with policies on local sourcing, sustainable tourism and protection of the Volturno valley landscape.

Caiazzo is a comune in the province of Caserta, Campania region of Italy, about 52 kilometers from Napoli.

Campania · Caserta

Caiazzo

A Cittaslow hill above the Volturno, turned by Franco Pepe's pizza into a destination for 800 covers a day in eighteenth-century rooms.

52 km / 32 mi

Nearest hub (Napoli)

5,205

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Caiazzo sitson a small hill above the Volturno, forty kilometres north of Naples, between the Matese foothills and the Caserta plain. The town is older than the surrounding province: Caiatia was already a Samnite then Roman centre, and the medieval cathedral preserves a Lombard crypt under its eleventh-century floor. What pulls visitors today is not the cathedral but a pizzeria. In 2012 Franco Pepe, third-generation baker, opened Pepe in Grani in an eighteenth-century palazzo on Vico San Giovanni Battista, working long-fermented doughs with local Pallagrello flour, Conciato Romano cheese and Caiazzo olive oil. Tre spicchi from Gambero Rosso for ten straight years and a Michelin world-best ranking in 2018 turned the centro storico into a destination that handles 800 pizzas a day. Caiazzo is a Cittaslow, a Città del Vino for Pallagrello and Casavecchia, and a Città dell'Olio.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Caiazzo fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

4 photos · scroll →

Known for

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Eleventh-century cathedral with a Lombard crypt beneath the floor, baroque interior and the relics of San Stefano Minicillo, patron of Caiazzo.
Castello di Caiazzo
Medieval castle of Lombard origin on the highest point of the centro storico, remodelled under the Normans and later princes of Caiazzo.
Pepe in Grani
Franco Pepe's pizzeria in an eighteenth-century palazzo on Vico San Giovanni Battista, ranked best in the world by Michelin in 2018.
Centro storico samnitico-romano
Old town built on the Roman and Samnite Caiatia plan, with Lombard, Norman and Renaissance layers and the Cittaslow palazzo as administrative seat.
Pallagrello and Casavecchia vineyards
Slopes around Caiazzo planted to two indigenous grapes recovered in the 1990s, with Conciato Romano sheep cheese aged in nearby cellars.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the cleanest months in Caiazzo, when the Volturno valley is green and the Pepe in Grani tables are easier to book at lunch. July and August push the Caserta plain past thirty-five degrees and the centro storico empties between two and six in the afternoon. Harvest runs September and October for Pallagrello and Casavecchia and pulls weekend wine visitors. November through March is wet, foggy at dawn, with cold rain and the cathedral square at its quietest, though Pepe's wood ovens stay lit year-round and the patronal feast of San Stefano Minicillo falls on 29 October.