GRAND TOUR OF MOLISE BETWEEN HISTORY AND TASTE

villages / biodiversity / food & wine 

(seven days/ six nights)

DAY 1 - ISERNIA - CASTEL DEL GIUDICE

Arrival of the participants in Isernia and check-in at the hotel. In the afternoon, meeting with the tour leader and departure for Castel Del Giudice (IS), on the border between Abruzzo and Molise. This pretty village in a mountainous area is famous as an excellent example of rebirth, a gem of a beautiful and active Italy that has been able to turn these inland areas into beauty and goodness. Thanks to a strong synergy between the municipal administration, the citizens and several entrepreneurs, Borgotufi was born - an ancient rural aggregate restored and transformed into a widespread hotel, through a careful and accurate architectural renovation. A splendid example of conservative restoration, with a wellness centre and other high quality services, surrounded by apple orchards grown from uncultivated and abandoned land.

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

DAY 2 - CASTEL DEL GIUDICE - CAPRACOTTA (where the mountains whisper to shepherds)

After breakfast, a short drive will take us to Capracotta, located at 1421 metres above sea level, a small village amidst extensive grasslands and small hamlets animated by the rural activities that characterise the entire Upper Molise area.  The village of Capracotta, as it appears today, was founded in the Middle Ages during the Lombard conquest of southern Italy (late 6th-early 7th century A.D.), and it developed over the following centuries through the practice of transhumance, from the Abruzzi herds to the TavolieredellePuglie. Even today, the paved paths are still trodden by the few shepherds who hand down the tradition and lead their cattle to the alpine pastures in the summer season. In the surrounding green areas, there is the Giardinodella Flora Appenninica, a natural botanical garden conserving a considerable variety of plants, many of which have been saved from extinction. For lunch, we will be welcomed to a family-run farm that produces high-quality yoghurt and milk, the raw material for the area's typical dairy products, which we will taste together with other typical Molise delicacies of the mountain culinary tradition. The main dish of the day will be the pezzata, a very old recipe dating back to the period when shepherds made the transhumance between Molise and the TavolieredellePuglie.  Walking along the village streets, we will reach the Baronial Palace, where the Museo dellaCiviltà Contadina (Rural Life Museum) will take us back in time, among mountain people’s (collected and donated) tools and instruments of daily life, and their vicissitudes in order to preserve and protect the historical memory of this place. Return to Castel del Giudice. 

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

DAY 3 - CASTEL DEL GIUDICE - AGNONE (solemn chimes of ancient traditions)

After breakfast, we will set off for Agnone, the Athens of Sannio. The village, surrounded by a mountainous landscape, is the ideal place to admire the masterpieces of craftsmanship that still follow rules handed down through generations. The sound of wrought iron and the scent of worked copper will accompany us today. Visit to the Museo di Arte Casearia e dellaTransumanza (Museum of Cheese-making and Transhumance), which will allow us to relive the socio-economic history of this region and the Apennines, through a multicultural itinerary full of surprises and stories. We will visit the adjoining artisan workshop, where rich olfactory sensations mingle with magical motions, in the steaming atmosphere where the famous Caciocavallo di Agnone cheese is made, and then aged on volcanic stone. After a guided tasting of five cheeses accompanied by local bread (our aperitif!), we will move to a cosy inn in the heart of the village, for a typical lunch.  Craftsmanship in Agnone is a centuries-old art and was the reason for the trade between the village coppersmiths and the city of Venice, whose architectural references can be found in the district nicknamed as 'Venetian'. Visit to Palazzo Minutolo with its characteristic goldsmith's workshop, containing the tools used to work precious metals. We will continue to Palazzo San Francesco, a former convent with a rare library of ancient volumes, including a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses and a cast of the original Tavola Osca, with a religious theme dating back to 250 BC. We will reach the 15th-century Town Hall and the marble fountain dated 1881, the year on which the first urban aqueduct was built. Visit to an artisan workshop, whose origins date back to the late 1800s, when the founder started the production of scales and other objects for weights and measures, later joined by copper processing. From here, we will continue on to the thousand-year-old Pontificia Fonderia di Campane Marinelli (the oldest foundry in Italy and one of the oldest in the world); the Marinelli family will open the doors of their treasure chest to provide us with a step-by-step insight into the ancient rituals of bronze forging and instrument production. The master bell ringer will let us appreciate sounds and tones in a truly unusual concert. Return to Castel del Giudice. 

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay

DAY 4 - CASTEL DEL GIUDICE - CASTEL SAN VINCENZO - SCAPOLI (heart of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park) - ISERNIA

Our journey will continue in the Alta Valle del Volturno, close to the  Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise. On the slopes of the Mainarde mountains, lies the small village of Castel San Vincenzo, site of the ancient Benedictine monastery of the same name, one of the most important in Europe. The site hosts the excavations of the 5th-century Lombard abbey on the left bank of the river, and the new 12th-century abbey on the right bank, which has been profoundly rebuilt over the centuries and can still be visited. Today it is home to a Benedictine community. In the archaeological area, the crypt of Epiphanius contains frescoes that are among the most important examples of early medieval European painting. Visit to the archaeological area and the Abbey. On the way, we will admire the Lago di Castel San Vincenzo, on the border with the Abruzzi region, a turquoise jewel surrounded by woods and the peaks of the Mainarde mountains reflected in its clear waters. Lunch in Castel San Vincenzo, where we will be welcomed by Stefano, Chef and Sommelier of the renowned Locanda Belvedere. In the afternoon, visit to the village of Scapoli, a forge of master craftsmen producing bagpipes, the ancient musical instrument of shepherds. In this place, nestled between the mountains, musical culture materialises in the only historic workshops left in Italy (which we will of course visit), where the finest and seasoned olive, cherry and plum wood is carved using techniques that have never changed over the centuries. The Museo Internazionaledella Zampogna (International Bagpipe Museum) and its permanent exhibition house these jewels that bear witness to the skills and traditions of a community.

We will end the day with a unique and extraordinary visit to the Museo Nazionale del Paleolitico (National Palaeolithic Museum) in Isernia. This Museum is home to the oldest human encampment in Europe (the first presence of man in Europe). The Museum is a must-see for anyone who wants to discover the stages of human evolution through prehistoric tools and behaviour. We will take a guided tour to discover the countless artefacts that have contributed to our knowledge of daily life habits, and we will know more about how the first camps of humans, who arrived in present-day Europe around 700,000 years ago, lived were organized. We will continue with a short visit to the historical centre of the town of Isernia, and then return to Castel del Giudice.

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

DAY 5 - CASTEL DEL GIUDICE - FROSOLONE (Tintilia drops and secular rites)

After breakfast, we will reach Frosolone, a beautiful town in the province of Isernia, famous for its historical handicraft production of knives and other bladed tools - a tradition spanning five generations. We will visit the Museo Civico deiFerriTaglienti. Frosolone is the last stop of the ancient pastoral rite of transhumance, which is repeated every year, covering about 180 kilometres on sheep-tracks and bifurcations. The Colantuono family is an undisputed protagonist of Molise tradition and identity. Its members will tell us about a cross-section of ancient and unique life, made up of jealously preserved traditions and customs; an unquestionable historical, archaeological, anthropological and natural heritage that has been recognised by Unesco as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Lunch at the trattoria 'La Taverna' in Frosolone, with tasting of typical local products.

In the afternoon, we will enter the territory of Petrella Tifernina, an ancient municipality in the province of Campobasso, with probable Samnite origins. More precisely, we will reach the Colle Sereno locality, after which a historic farm and winery in the region is named. On the hillside, amidst the woods, a wide expanse of vineyards and olive groves dominates the valley and the inexorable flow of the Biferno river. We will learn about the different qualities produced, including the indigenous 'Tintilia' wine, an extraordinary variety of ancient tradition. In the evening, we reach La PianadeiMulini, a delightful widespread hotel built in an old mill in the heart of Molise, in the municipality of Colle d'Anchise. 

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

DAY 6 - COLLE D'ANCHISE (PianadeiMulini), BUSSO (Il Tartufo Molisano), SEPINO (archaeological site of Altilia)

After breakfast, we will reach the municipality of Busso. The Di Iorio family has been living the passion for truffles for three generations now, and will guide us in the discovery of Molise's white gold. We will go with Mr. Vincenzo in the forest, following the expert dogs in the exciting search for this fantastic tuber, and discovering the places, tricks and secrets of an expert seeker. We will then return to the company site, to enjoy the proverbial hospitality of the Di Iorios for a rich truffle tasting. After lunch, we leave for the archaeological site of Saepinum (Altilia). The site lies along the ancient  Pescasseroli-Candela sheep-track road, 3 kilometres north of the present village of Sepino. The Roman city was founded in the 2nd century B.C. and reached its greatest splendour in the Augustan age, at the turn of the 2nd century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. It has the classical urban layout with a decumanus, still paved, and a cardo. The entire city wall demarcates its boundaries with four monumental gates (Porta Terravecchia, Porta Tammaro, Porta Bojano and Porta Benevento), a theatre, the baths, the forum, the basilica, the campus-pool-porticus complex, the macellum and two residential quarters. The experience will be followed by a tour of the village of Sepino, on the slopes of the Matese mountains, with a relaxing stroll through the medieval area between narrow streets, decorated balconies and numerous fountains. Return to Colle d'Anchise - PianadeiMulini.

Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

DAY 7 - END OF TRIP AND RETURN HOME

After breakfast, everyone will return home.

INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION FEE FROM € 980.00

PERIOD: ALL YEAR ROUND