AGNONE, MOLISAN JEWEL

Agnone is a town in Molise in the province of Isernia; rises 830 meters above sea level and has 5,000 inhabitants. It has always been an administrative part of the Abruzzo region; in fact, when King Giuseppe Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, decided to create the new province of Molise in 1806, Agnone was left in Abruzzo. Subsequently, under the reign of Gioacchino Murat, the city asked for and obtained the passage to Molise, basing the request on the geographical difficulty with the Abruzzo connections, hoping to assume a prominent role in the new province. The parish church of San Francesco is the most important in the village, built in 1343, it houses precious frescoes in the vault by the famous eighteenth-century painter Paolo Gamba. In 1926 it was declared a national monument. To visit the valuable library of Agnano, dating back to the early twentieth century, which although small, is full of interesting frescoes. Noteworthy is the church of San Marco Evangelista which stands on a hill overlooking the valley; begun by the Venetians in the 11th century, dedicating it to the patron saint of the Serenissima, it was enlarged in the following century. A must-see is the Marinelli foundry, with an adjoining museum. It is a company specialized in the production of bells, known nationally and beyond. It boasts the title of the oldest family business in Italy and one of the oldest in the world. Finally, we recommend a visit to the area of the Verrino waterfalls, a spectacle of nature to be admired in total relaxation.