Pietrabbondante: The Samnite Sanctuary on the Ridge of the World

You have to earn Pietrabbondante. The road climbing from Agnone or Carovilli grows ever narrower, the landscape ever wider, until the town itself — seven hundred souls at the mouth of the upper Verrino Valley — seems almost a pretext. The real reason to come here is one kilometre from the centre, in a grassy hollow at the foot of Monte Caraceno: the sanctuary complex of the Samnites Pentri, their most sacred place.

The religious heart of a warrior people

The Italic theatre-temple of Pietrabbondante, built between the second and first centuries BC, was the public sanctuary to which the entire Samnite Pentri confederation looked. Not an isolated building, but an articulated complex: two temples superimposed chronologically, the theatre with the cavea carved into the natural slope of the hill, and rows of limestone seats sculpted with lion's paws at their ends. The quality of the architecture is extraordinary — bull heads on the capitals, perfectly joined inclined planes — and it tells of a people who, despite resisting Rome for centuries, had absorbed its constructive taste.

Silence as heritage

Unlike Pompeii or Paestum, there is almost nobody here. Guided tours are by reservation, the site closes on Mondays, and on autumn weekdays you can stand alone among the stones for an hour. The altitude — nearly a thousand metres — gives fresh air even in July and a boundless panorama toward the Molisan and Abruzzese mountains. In summer the theatre hosts the "Theatre at a Thousand Metres" festival, open-air performances that recapture the original purpose of the space.

Practical information

Access to the site is by paid admission (reduced rate available); open April to October every day except Monday. Winter hours are reduced. The town of Pietrabbondante has a few trattorias where you can try fusilli with lamb ragu and ventricina, a typical cured meat of upper Molise. The best time is May-June, when the meadow around the ruins is a deep green and flocks still pass along the nearby tratturi.