Pietracupa

You can spot the town from a distance, thanks to its morgia – one of the limestone rocks dotted randomly over the landscape in this part of Molise. The town, defined by many as the “Bethlehem of Molise”, forms a tight cluster around the rock; even the bell tower of St Anthony's church blends seamlessly into the skyline. The cave church, dug from the rock, conceals a 16th-century crucifix and an altar made from a millstone. The local morgia justifies the inclusion of Pietracupa in the group of municipalities invited to join the Cenozoic Park of the Morge in Molise. You can find information about these natural phenomena in the village, at Via Casaleno no. 1.

The climate here is particularly favourable, with windy summers and mild winters. A noblewoman of the D’Evoli family wrote in the late 16th century that the vassals of Pietracupa, thanks to the good air of the place, lived peacefully until the age of 80 or 90. Whether or not this is true, it is a fact that the fields around the village are fertile ground for wheat, olives, fruit trees and vines.

Down one of the two roads leading from Castropignano you will find Torella del Sannio, dominated by its castle with a trapezoidal plan and round towers, built under Angevin rule but adapted for residential use during the Renaissance. But if you take the other route to Castropignano, the state road, you'll pass by Fossalto, where you can stop to view the Baronial Palace, the frescoes in the parish church of St Mary of the Assumption, and the Baroque altar in the Church of St Anthony of Padua.