Alto Molise, the town I'm talking about is Agnone. It is not a small town, on the contrary, but the oldest part develops on the ridge of a relief. It is a city of art and craft activities that boasts the Orange Flag awarded to the villages by the Italian Touring Club.
Meanwhile the churches: there are many, all beautiful. The local tourist office provides a map with the list of churches that can be visited, a sort of sacred itinerary. There are Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque churches: the most characteristic thing is that in the past centuries Venetian workers worked here and in fact Venetian influences can be seen here and there, for example the lions on the facade of the church of Saint Francis, the one I liked most of all. But also the craftsmanship is very important and in fact in the main street there are many shops: the Agnonese artisans were specialized in copper processing, in particular the Agnone tina was sought after, a large container for water and liquids.
The buildings at the bottom of the valley, a little outside the city, totally recovered and used for educational activities, are also dedicated to copper: the Copper foundries. Another characteristic of Agnone is the Pontifical Marinelli Foundry, a "factory", obviously handmade of bells. Do not think that bell foundries are so widespread and that creating a bell is a trivial thing: attached to the Foundry is a museum that can be visited in small groups with an explanation of how a bell is born.
The most important event in Agnone takes place in December, just before Christmas, and is the Ndocciata. Hundreds of ndocce, that is torches, parade through the town in a sea of fire. The ndocce are made of silver fir from these forests and are fan-mounted, loaded on the shoulders of the bearers. The resin produces a deafening crackle and the procession of light, of pagan origin but transported in the Christian context to signify the coming of the light of the world, that is Christ, is engaging not only for the Agnonese but also for the visitors.
