Among the hills of Molise, an ancient and evocative legend has been passed down: the story of King Bove, a powerful ruler cursed by fate. In love with his own sister, he asked the Pope for permission to marry her. To ward off heresy, the pontiff set an impossible challenge: to build one hundred churches in a single night, each visible from the next.
Blinded by love, King Bove accepted. To succeed, he made a pact with the devil: in exchange for completing the task, he would surrender his soul. And so, amidst thunderous booms and stones lifted by superhuman hands, the night came alive with blazing construction sites. By dawn, ninety-nine churches stood tall. Only one remained.
Gripped by fear of eternal damnation, King Bove fell to his knees and begged God for forgiveness. A divine light tore through the sky, and the pact was broken. Enraged, the devil hurled a massive stone at the final church—Santa Maria della Strada in Matrice—striking its bell tower. The stone is still visible today, known as the “Devil’s Rock.”
The king’s body was buried in the unfinished church. Of the hundred buildings, only seven have survived. Five of them are in Molise:
- Santa Maria della Strada (Matrice), with two oxen carved into the façade, symbolizing the king;
- San Leonardo (Campobasso), with a bas-relief of an ox;
- Maria SS. Assunta (Ferrazzano), whose bell tower collapsed in 1658;
- Santa Maria di Monteverde (between Vinchiaturo and Mirabello);
- Santa Maria a Monte (Cercemaggiore), mysterious and untouched.
The other two churches lie outside the region but are still tied to the legend. It’s said that on stormy nights, when the wind howls across the hills, you can hear the gallop of a horse and the heavy footsteps of a king condemned to wander forever. Perhaps it’s just the wind.
Or perhaps it’s King Bove, still searching for his hundredth church, the missing piece of his cursed dream.