Il Cammino Delle Chiese Campestri

Belmonte del Sannio

Molise

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Belmonte del Sannio

Belmonte del Sannio is a small village located 864 meters above sea level that demarcates the border between Abruzzo and Molise with a landscape whose enchantment is conferred by the high and “beautiful mountains” that once made these places impregnable. Belmonte del Sannio is the Bellus Mons of the Angevin Regesti. The Baronial Palace is in an elevated position in the historic core developing into three levels and is now used for private housing.

 

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.

Belmonte del Sannio

PROVINCE: Isernia

NUMBER OF INHABITANTS: 637

ALTITUDE: 864 m above sea level.

Belmonte del Sannio website

The “Walk of the Country Churches” is an outdoor trail of about 90 kilometers connecting 9 historical centers e 15 small churches scattered throughout the territory of Agnone, Belmonte del Sannio, Capracotta, Castel del Giudice, Castelverrino, Civitanova del Sannio, Pescopennataro, Poggio Sannita e Sant’Angelo del Pesco.

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INITIATIVE FUNDED BY THE FEASR European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development PSR Molise Region 2014 – 2020

EAFRD
Italian Republic
Molise Region
PSR Molise
GAL Altomolise