The itinerary is designed for history and nature lovers eager to learn more about the proud Samnite people even at the cost of some adventure and hiking in the mountains.
In the mysterious heart of Molise, among hills that whisper ancient stories and untouched landscapes, an itinerary unfolds to discover the deepest roots of this land: those of the Samnites, a proud warrior people who left powerful and silent traces. In Baranello, the civic museum holds precious artifacts that tell of a glorious past, including weapons, ornaments and fragments of daily life that still seem to vibrate. Almost on top of Monte Vairano, on the other hand, are the remains of one of the most important cities of this proud people.
Campobasso, with its National Archaeological Museum, is an essential stop: here every object on display becomes the voice of time, revealing customs, battles and rituals of a civilization that was able to challenge Rome. Continue on to Casacalenda, where the Samnite presence can be sensed in the landscape, in the surfaced artifacts of ancient Gerione and in the strength that can be felt walking through the village.
At Carovilli and Vastogirardi, nature envelops remains of settlements and ancient sheep-tracks, millennia-old paths on which men and flocks walked among civil buildings and temples. But it is at Pietrabbondante that the heart stops: the theater-temple, set among the rocks, is one of the most extraordinary sites in the Italic world. Here, among carved stones and a sacred silence, one can still sense the pride of a free people. An archaeological journey that is also a return to the origins.