Riccia: Norman Tower, Truffle, and Molisan Amaro in the Fortore

In the Molisan Fortore, where the hills grow softer and the woods denser before yielding to the Apulian plain, Riccia preserves its identity with the discretion typical of villages that don't seek fame. Province of Campobasso, just under five thousand inhabitants, a panoramic position looking toward Sannio and the Apennines: Riccia is one of those places you find by chance and return to on purpose.

The Di Capua tower

The village's historical memory is entrusted to a cylindrical tower standing in the oldest part of town: the surviving remnant of the medieval castle built by the Di Capua family, powerful feudal lords who governed Riccia from the Middle Ages until the end of the eighteenth century. Between 1510 and 1515, Bartolomeo III di Capua transformed the manor into a Renaissance fortress with an inner palace; when the last heir died in 1792 without successors, the fief reverted to the state. Of that complex, the tower remains, dominating the historic center like a secular bell tower, along with the State Archive documents that tell eight centuries of feudal history.

Truffle and the forests of Fortore

Riccia is surrounded by mixed woods of oak, hornbeam, and hazel that form the ideal habitat for summer black truffle and the more prized spring bianchetto truffle. Harvesting is practiced locally using traditional methods, and the village restaurants offer simple but intense dishes: truffle tagliolini, scrambled eggs, bruschetta. The scent of the forest floor enters the kitchens as soon as the season opens.

Amaro Molisano and the Grape Festival

Riccia is home to the production of Amaro Molisano, a liqueur made from 32 local herbs and roots gathered from the surrounding woods: every family once had its own recipe, and the industrialized version still retains something of that wild flavor. In September, after the grape harvest, the Sagra dell'Uva Riccese is celebrated, one of the most cherished festivals in the Molisan Fortore: music, local wine, and the native grape variety that still survives in the hillside vineyards.