Belmonte del Sannio

Belmonte del Sannio is pure beauty. The road to the village, overlooking the Trigno Valley, is gentle, paved with gorse and mountain herbs. The view of the village is magnificent, with St. Savior’s Church dominating the summit. Clinging to the top of a high hill, Belmonte hints at its appearance as a castle town, although only one tower, presumably from the Lombard period, is preserved, incorporated into a house in the historic center. The baronial palace of the Caracciolo family, at its highest point, has undergone the transformations of time and is now a small complex of private dwellings. Next door, the parish church of St. Savior, rebuilt in 1865, welcomes visitors with a fine display of valuable wooden and plaster statues and a large painting depicting the Madonna of Belmonte. Impressive is the bell tower, with an older layout and built directly on the rock outcropping. A walk through the old town reveals the antiquity of some houses with an almost medieval charm, which have been abandoned in favor of the more comfortable and newer dwellings in the valley. Suggestive is the chapel of San Rocco, located north of the town and built in 1848 next to the town’s old cemetery, just outside the medieval wall circuit. Picnic lovers will find a very scenic picnic area in front of the church, enhanced by a playground for children. According to local tradition, the burial of Ovio Paccio(Pakis Uviis in Oscan), the most famous priest of the Samnites, was discovered in Belmonte in the 19th century. According to Livy, he would officiate at the sacred oath of the warriors of the Legio Linteata. Downstream from the village, which can be visited, is a sarcophagus carved into a rocky boulder that locals say is what remains of his burial.

In Belmonte, as in Agnone, it is traditional to have the ‘lighting of the ndocce (torches), on the evening of Christmas Eve. However, the Ndocce belmontese are large and long torches (up to 3 meters) that are not carried in a procession like those in Agnonese but displayed and lit in Risorgimento Square.