8/8/2020 The fascinating Italian region that you've never heard of

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› Travel › Destin… › Europe › Italy › Articles

The fascinating Italian region you've probably never heard of

By Sasha Vasilyuk, TRAVEL WRITER

8 AUGUST 2020 • 9:53AM

From hilltop villages to ancient ruins, Molise has many undiscovered attractions CREDIT: GETTY

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8/8/2020 The fascinating Italian region that you've never heard of

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There's skiing for winter and seafood suppers in seaside towns for summer in the corner of Italy

that "doesn't exist"

The silence of Molise’s Pietrabbondante Amphitheater was so absolute that I could almost hear the

crowds that sat there more than two thousand years ago.

After bowing to the 2,500 members of my invisible audience, I turned to see my husband, the only

other person in this archeological site that was completed around 95 AD. Such a tranquil visit would be

all but impossible at the ruins in Rome or Pompeii.

An absence of other tourists was a recurring theme on our trip to Molise, Italy

(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/)’s second smallest region, just above Puglia. Despite

its historical riches and pristine landscapes, including Pietrabbondante and Saepinum, one of the best-

preserved ancient Roman ruins in Italy, it is so unknown that Italians like to joke that “Molise doesn’t

exist” (it rhymes in Italian). On hearing this saying, any self-respecting Molisano retorts: “Molise exists

and resists!”.

In today’s climate, a lack of visitors is a big plus. This under-the-radar region has become one of the

safest choices for Britons eager for an Italian holiday (as of August 8, it had recorded eight cases in the

previous seven days; 3 per 100,000). Meanwhile, some lucky travellers have secured a free stay in

Molise this summer (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/italian-village-free-holidays) – in San Giovanni, one of

its many picturesque villages.

Molise is also Italy’s youngest region, separated from the nearby Abruzzo

(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/articles/abruzzo-travel-guide-see-do-stay/) in 1970. It

doesn’t have an airport – Rome (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/rome/) or Naples are

the easiest entry points – and the hills that rise here one after another, often topped by a village like a

cherry on a cake, mean that it is best navigated by car.

Termoli CREDIT: ISTOCK

8/8/2020 The fascinating Italian region that you've never heard of

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Its unique geography, which allows one to ski the Apennines in the winter and eat fresh seafood on the

Adriatic coast, perhaps at its charming beach town of Termoli, in the summer, has defined its fate.

Originally, this was the home of the Samnites, a tribe who knew their hills well enough to resist the

Romans until the 1st century BC, when they were assimilated into Roman society. The well-organized

Museo Sannitico, hidden in the crooked alleys under the dominating Manforte Castle in the region’s

capital of Campobasso, shows the sophistication of this people.

In fact, you will have heard of at least two Samnites – Cassius Longinus who assassinated Julius Caesar

and Pontius Pilate who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.

You also may have come across the Oscan Tablet at the British Museum. This bronze tablet from the

3rd century BC is written in a Samnite dialect and was found in Agnone, often referred to as the Athens

of the Sannio.

Today, Agnone is home to the Marinelli Bell Foundry, where the same family has been making bells for

800 years, supplying the world’s major churches, including St. Peter’s Basilica. The foundry has a small

museum where you can learn about their techniques, see bells of various sizes and fame, and test out

your own bell-ringing chops.

Bells can be heard throughout Molise. From Montagano, a white-stone village of less than a thousand

inhabitants (where we stayed), we could hear the clangs ringing out across the hills from neighbouring

villages.

As a foreign tourist in this undiscovered region you can expect a warm welcome. In Montagano, the

mayor treated us to beers and a group of locals invited us to an impromptu street-side picnic of wine

and cheese, accompanied by guitar-playing.

This generosity, we found, was region-wide. When one morning my husband went to hike Mount

Miletto – Molise’s tallest peak at 6,700 feet – shepherds helped him find his way to the top.

Matese Regional Park CREDIT: GETTY

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Then, on a picturesque drive through the leafy Matese Regional Park in the Apennines, we came upon

Rifugio del Massaro, a farmstead known for its regional dishes. Despite being closed that afternoon, the

owner showed us how he makes caciocavallo, the famed local cheese. We watched as he massaged the

milky goo inside a large vat, pulling it with his veteran fingers and giving the cheese its distinctive

nesting doll shape. He then invited us into his house for cheese and olive tasting.

Near the end of our stay, a local from Montagano asked me to go mushroom hunting. Because of its

climate and many woods, Molise is one of Italy’s biggest sources of porcini and white truffles.

It was easy to see why when, after less than half an hour, we emerged with two pounds of porcini. He

then cooked a porcini frittata, which my husband and I still refer to as “the best lunch we’ve ever had.”

Molise’s tourist-free ruins and unspoiled natural beauty will pull you in, but it’s the welcome that stays

with you.

How to do it:

From Rome’s Ciampino Airport, it is a faster drive to Molise (around two hours) than Fiumicino airport.

Ryanair offers direct flights from Stansted to Ciampino. Naples International Airport is another option

that’s even closer (you can drive to Molise in a little over one hour). British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair,

Jet2 and Tui offer direct flights from the UK to Naples International Airport.

Palazzo Cannavina in Campobasso (palazzocannavina.com (https://www.palazzocannavina.com/)) is a restored

17th century palazzo with frescoed walls and ceilings offers; the perfect mix of modern luxury and

history in the heart of Campobasso’s historical center. Double rooms start from £99 in September.

Casale Kolidur Hotel & Restaurant (kolidur.webflow.io (https://kolidur.webflow.io/en/casalekolidur/old-home)) is

in Guardiaregia, one of the most picturesque villages in Molise and a short drive from the Roman ruins

of Saepinum. Double rooms start from £63.

Molise's Mountain views comes with some pleasant surprises CREDIT: SASHA VASILYUK

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