From the Prehistoric to the Middle Age
 Talking about Molise means starting from the very beginning, when a tribe of Homines Erecti paused in the Pineta area at the gate of the city of Isernia, settling in a prehistoric village which was survived since our time.
Fossils of elephants, bisons, rhinoceros and other animals that populated the area referring to 800-900 thousand years.
This fascinating story is well documented at the National Museum of Pentria, where they reconstructed the environment in which the Homo Aeserniensis lived. With high accuracy we will be told about the struggles of these people to survive in a hostile, swampy territory, about the unfair relationship between Man and Nature and the ability and intuition for reclaiming the lands, shaping the stones and raising huts.
But the charm of this land does not end in prehistory. The history of Sunnites, the people which dare challenge the Romans gathering a victory against them at the Caudian Gole in the years 31 B.C., is incredibly fascinating.
Therefore the portion of their kingdom extending in Molise had its epicenter in the area of Matese, a place rich in mountains and for that reason ideal land for defending, and especially in Bovianum (Bojano).
In this land, characterized by mountains, rivers and lakes, they consolidated an economy of survey, where each single fruit was as much precious, as pushed away from a swampy and hostile land.
For their settlements they used to choose high sites overlooking valleys and here they raised their temples, sanctuaries and places of prayer. Not unusually they placed sanctuaries strategically along the main routes, open to the flow of people going along the track.
Such as the Hercules sanctuary, founded nearby Campochiaro, placed on the slopes of the Matese mountain, in a highly panoramic place. Although the oldest known earthquake in Molise -which occurred towards the end of third century during the building phase- the sanctuary was completed and was visited regularly until the end of the Empire.
Other sanctuaries were built in the area of Sepino and in Alto Molise, such as in Vastogirardi at the feet of Monte Capraro, in both cases the original temples were placed by Christian churches.
Moreover Pietrabbondante (the name means a place rich in stone) were be honored to host the most important sanctuary of the State.
Thanks to the breathless scenery of Monte Caraceno, which offered an overlooking above the vast horizon of Middle and Upper Molise, this place was deputy to create the greatest architectural and cultural masterpiece, that had to fulfill the double function of theatre and temple at the same time.
Using the natural slopes, the project placed the theater at the bottom, where the lowest steps are hewn out of the stones. At the top stand the gigantic temple on a very high podium.
Although the Sunnites erected magnificent fortifications made up of one, two and sometimes even three walls to defense their people, the Romans succeeded in breaking through the barriers and conquered the fortification of Sepino (Terravecchia) and even before that the fortress of Bojano.
 Doubtless the most meaningful traces of the Romans in Molise is the Municipium of Altilia-Sepino. Visiting the roman complex of Sepino is a mystic and exciting experience, over the time, the original planning of the town monumental gates, the uninterrupted series of shops, the macellum, the basilica the curia, the comitium are still vivid witnesses of the greatness of people, which build up a rich town.
The scarcity of artistic-architectural evidence relating to the entire Middle Ages can be justified by the systematic destructions by the Longobard’s, raids by the Saracencens and the clashes that occurred between the coastal dukedoms. Only the activities of the Benedictine Monks was, to some degree, able to stem the devastation brought about by the recurring foreign invasions and the lack of an established power.
The Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno was established around 700 A.D. and was an important centre of the Benedictine culture in the Early Middle Ages.
It was completely destroyed by earthquake and raids, like that of the Saracens in the 882, during which nearly all of the 1000 monks, who lived there were killed. The underground crypt of San Lorenzo, built by the Abbot Epifanio in the 9th century escaped destruction and features a marvelous series of frescoes, which in spite of the fact that they still imitate the Byzantine style already show sings of Carolingian art.
Rebuilt between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, the Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno was again destroyed by an earthquake in 1349. The recent restoration work, completed 25 years ago, gives the visitor an idea of the stateliness and elegance of the ancient construction: the Presbyterian complex with three abisides and the square plane remain.
On the inside, the vault is supported by four granite pillars each made out of a single block of stone with Corinthian capitals.
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Arte and Culture during the Norman and Swabian periods
Art developed considerably during the Swabian-Norman period of domination.
From the 12th century onwards, there is a lot of evidence from this period. In the border area between upper an lower Molise, there is the enormous Romanesque Parish church of San Giorgio, situated in the municipality of Petrella Tifernina. On the outer hand of Matrice there is the Abbey church of Santa Maria della Strada, which was also built in the Romanesque style with a prominent bell tower.
In Campobasso, which has a completely modern look, one finds the churchs of San Bartolomeo and San Giorgio, which date back to the 12th century.
The latter church has a linear façade divided into three sections, by pilasters in the lower fascia.
The lunette of the portal is richly engraved, as is the fascia of the archivolt which is decorated with flowers motives. The interior of the church has a nave and two side aisles.
In the city of Isernia the massive bell towers of San Pietro, with a beautiful ogival arch and the Fraterna Fountain (13th – 14th century), a jewel of elegance, with an arcade of six arches separated by slender pillars, were saved from destruction. The most important monuments in the region relating to this period include the picturesque piazza of the Duomo of Termoli and the Cathedral itself dating back to the 12th – 13th century.
At Guglionesi one can see the Romanesque church of San Nicola dating back to the 12th century.
 The Sanctuary of the Madonna of Canneto (11th – 12th century) located on the valley floor of the Trigno, was founded even earlier on the remains of a Roman Villa and is well-worth a visit. The imposing bell tower, the Roman portal and the splendid pulpit with three arches dating back to 1223, which is decorated with small statues placed in a false gallery of arches, are all real jewels.
The artistic journey ends with the extraordinary façade of the Cathedral of Larino, with thirteen spokes and the magnificent splayed ogival portal, an architectural masterpiece, which shows a clear Apulian influence in its Romanesque shapes.
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Modern and Contemporary Art
 Paolo Gamba, Paolo Saverio di Zinno, Ciriaco Brunetti, Nicola Giuliani, Armando de Lisio, Elena Ciamarra, Marcello Scarano and Amedeo Trivisonno are among the important artists from the modern and contemporary period.
Expert wood-carvers, decorators, painters and designers are often united by the fact of having studied in Naples or having studies or worked outside the region. Their works are imbued with the special bound they share with the land of Molise and its nature.
One cannot overlook the contribution that these artists have made to local art, which reveals significant evidence of a variety of art from every age, which include the jewels of Baroque art found in the church in the Annunziata at Venafro.
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