Termoli: The Trabucchi Town on the Adriatic Coast of Molise

Those who cross Molise — Italy's quietest region — and reach the sea find Termoli as an unexpected surprise: a small old town perched on a promontory that juts into the Adriatic like the prow of a ship, with white houses clustered around the Romanesque cathedral of San Basso. The sea here has not yet been turned into a postcard.

The Old Town and the Cathedral of San Basso

Termoli's old town can be walked in twenty minutes but deserves hours. The cathedral, built in the twelfth century with pale local limestone, preserves a crypt where the relics of San Basso, the city's patron saint, rest. The Norman bell tower rises above the low houses, and through the alleys you can still feel the imprint of the fishermen who lived in these lanes for centuries. The Swabian castle, commissioned by Frederick II, seals the tip of the promontory like a stamp of grey stone.

Trabucchi: Fishing Machines on the Sea

A short distance from the village, along the Molise coast, you encounter the trabucchi — ancient fishing machines anchored to the rocks with a structure of beams and nets. They are almost fantastical presences, half architecture and half mechanism. Some are still functional; others have been converted into restaurants where you eat the day's catch with your feet nearly touching the water. Blue fish — sardines, anchovies, mackerel — comes directly from the local fishermen's nets at eight to twelve euros per serving.

How to Get There and When to Go

Termoli is reachable by train on the Adriatic line: four hours from Milan, two from Bari, one from Pescara. The station is a few minutes' walk from the port. From Termoli, ferries also depart for the Tremiti Islands, a forty-minute crossing: one more reason to stay at least one night. The best months are June, September, and October, when the village is still lively but tourists thin out. In July and August the beach fills up, but the old town keeps its quiet of stone and salt.