Only in the Italian backwater of Molise do you get to learn about the ancient, if esoteric, art of bell-making. For more than 1000 years, local artisans in the hilltop town of Agnone (43km northeast of Isernia) have been producing church bells for some of Italy's most famous churches, including St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Learn all about bell-making with a guided tour at this museum (there are extra tours in August). For further information, ask at the helpful tourist office.
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions
28.75 MILES
One of Molise’s hidden treasures, the Roman ruins of Saepinum are among the best preserved and least visited in the country. Unlike Pompeii and Ostia…
16.61 MILES
Built around the adjacent 730,000-year-old archaeological site of La Pineta, this intriguing museum stands next to a pavilion that protects the site of…
Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno
18.72 MILES
Founded in the 8th century, the Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno is famous for its cycle of 9th-century frescoes by Epifanio (824–842) in the crypt…
Eremo di Sant’Onofrio al Morrone
29.79 MILES
This cliff-clinging hermitage with its 15th-century ceiling, 13th-century frescoes, narrow oratory and arched porticoes cowers under a massive rock face…
29.8 MILES
Sitting below the Sant’Onofrio hermitage, this sanctuary was originally thought to be the house of Sulmona-born poet Ovid when it was first uncovered in…
28.44 MILES
The large town square is home to Sulmona's extensive Wednesday and Saturday morning market: you'll find fresh fish, veg, fruit and flowers, as well as the…
27.03 MILES
The Renaissance Palazzo d’Avalos houses a quartet of museums: the Museo Archeologico, with its eclectic collection of ancient bronzes, glasswork and…
26.93 MILES
More a promenade than a loggia (a walkway with columns and arches), this spectacular path tracks the edge of Vasto’s old town for 300m from the Palazzo d…
Nearby Molise attractions
1. Samnite Theatre-Temple Complex
4.87 MILES
About 30km northeast of Isernia, outside Pietrabbondante, the remains of a 3rd-century-BC Samnite theatre-temple complex reward a visit, as much as…
2. Museo Paleolitico di Isernia
16.61 MILES
Built around the adjacent 730,000-year-old archaeological site of La Pineta, this intriguing museum stands next to a pavilion that protects the site of…
16.85 MILES
World War II doesn’t get a lot of coverage in Italy, which makes this small museum chronicling the events of 10 September 1943, when Isernia was heavily…
16.96 MILES
The Palazzo Fanzago was designed by the great baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago in 1624. Look out for the carved wooden dragons under the roof and the…
5. Collegiata di Santa Maria del Colle
16.96 MILES
Rebuilt in the decades following a 1456 earthquake, the atmospheric Collegiata di Santa Maria del Colle combines a superb Romanesque portal with a lavish…
6. Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno
18.72 MILES
Founded in the 8th century, the Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno is famous for its cycle of 9th-century frescoes by Epifanio (824–842) in the crypt…
22.29 MILES
At the top of a steep tree-lined avenue sits this squat, quadrangular tower, much of which was built in the 15th and 16th centuries after the original…
22.4 MILES
Built over the ruins of a pagan temple, and with a history that stretches back a millennium, St George's is probably Campobasso's oldest church. Fifteenth…