| Cerro al Volturno | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Molise | |
| Territory | Molise Apennines | |
| Altitude | 572 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 23.79 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 1.227 (2019) | |
| Name inhabitants | Cerresi | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0865 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 86072 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | Sant'Emidio (January 12) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Cerro al Volturno is a center of the Molise.
To know
Geographical notes
OnMolise Apennines, in the territory Isernino, Cerro is 18 km from Castel di Sangro, 24 from Isernia, 29 from Venafro, 53 from Agnone.
Background
The town was founded by the Samnites (3rd century BC), of which fortifications remain at Mount Santa Croce. In medieval times the hill of the present village was colonized by peasants (9th century), since the fiefdom depended on the nearby Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The Norman castle was built, which was later enlarged in the 15th century by the Pandone family. In the following centuries the feud belonged to various families, including the Carafa.
In 1811 the village passed to the territory of Benevento and only in 1861 was it included again in Molise, first linked to the territory of Piedimonte Matese, and then to the area of Castellone Volturno, that is Castel San Vincenzo.
How to orient yourself
Cerro al Volturno: full screen map.Neighborhoods
Its municipal territory also includes the hamlets of Foci, San Vittorino, Cerreta, Cupone, San Giovanni, Mancini, Piano d'Ischia, Case, Foresta, Petrara, Santilli, Valloni and Rione Rossi.
How to get
By plane
- Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO), Via dell 'Fiumicino Airport, 320, ☎ 39 06 65951.
- Naples Capodichino Airport (NAP), Viale F. Ruffo di Calabria, 80144 Naples NA, ☎ 39 081 7896111.
- Pescara airport (Abruzzo International Airport), Via Tiburtina Km 229.100, ☎ 39 085 4324201.
By car
From the A1 motorway, exit at San Vittore or Caianello: continue towards Venafro, then in Roccaravindola continue towards Roccaraso along the SS158 until the exit for Cerro al Volturno.
From the A14 highway:
From the A1 motorway, exit at San Vittore or Caianello: continue towards 
From the A14 highway:- Exit Vast south - San Salvo and graft onto the Trignina (SS650): continue towards Isernia to the Isernia sud exit and proceed towards Hills in Volturno along the SS627.
- Exit Termoli and graft onto the Bifernina (SS647): continue towards Bojano - Campobasso, then Isernia up to the Isernia sud exit and proceed once again towards Fornelli.
- Foggia exit: continue for Lucera on the SS17, then take the SS645 towards Campobasso, resume the SS17 and follow the signs for Isernia up to the Isernia sud exit and then proceed always towards Fornelli.
From the A16 motorway, exit Benevento: continue first on the SS88, then SS87 always in the direction Campobasso, then in the direction Isernia until the Isernia sud exit and continue towards Hills in Volturno along the SS627 and finally turn right onto the SS158 up to Cerro al Volturno.
From the A26 motorway, exit Pratola Peligna - Sulmona: continue on the SS17 for Roccaraso and then Castel di Sangro, continue in the direction Isernia on the SS652 until the exit for Cerro al Volturno.
From the A16 motorway, exit 
From the A26 motorway, exit On the train
Isernia railway station (about 26 km away):
Isernia railway station (about 26 km away):- Line Termoli - Campobasso - Isernia
- Line Rome- Isernia - Campobasso
- Line Naples- Isernia- Campobasso
By bus
The main public transport companies operating in the Molise area are the following
The main public transport companies operating in the Molise area are the followingHow to get around
What see
- 1 Pandone Castle. In the municipal area there is a castle called Pandone. It was born around the year 1000 as an enclosure for storing food products, located on top of a mountain that controls the valley. Around 1400 Federico Pandone decided to build a castle on it, giving it his name and the shape it still retains today. Over the centuries it was sold to other families who made various improvements. Since 1828 it has belonged to the Lombardi family.
- On 22 September 1980, the Italian Post Office dedicated a postage stamp to him.
- 2 Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Yes located at the base of the country. It was built in the 12th century and re-modeled in the Baroque era. The facade, however, retains the medieval Romanesque origin.
- Church of Santa Maria Assunta. It is located in the upper part of the town, near the castle, which is why it is also called the church of Santa Maria al castello. Its first construction dates back to around 1000; in the sixteenth century it became a parish church.
- It preserves three 17th century altarpieces and two Roman funerary stones (3rd-4th century AD). The bell gable is from the 17th century.
Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno
Sante's theory, detail of the fresco decoration of the Epiphanius crypt, second quarter of the 9th century
- 3 Abbey of San Vincenzo a Volturno. The church is located in the valley bordering Castel San Vincenzo.
- It is a historic Benedictine abbey located in the territory of the municipalities of Castel San Vincenzo and of Rocchetta a Volturno.
- The area on which the abbey was born had hosted a settlement from the late Roman era. Between the fifth and sixth centuries, a church and a funerary area were built between the buildings now in disuse.
- According to the Chronicon Vulturnense, the monastery was born thanks to three nobles from Benevento, such Paldo, Tato and Taso in 731, who used all their rich heritage there. They, to undertake an ascetic life, reached the abbey of Farfa, Benedictine abbey in Sabina. Abbot Tommaso di Moriana suggested that they found an abbey near the Volturno river, where there was already an oratory dedicated to San Vincenzo. The foundation of this oratory is attributed to Constantine I the Great. The Chronicon's underlining the Beneventan origin of the three founders suggests that the institution was favored by seeking new prestige by the Lombard Gisulfo II, Duke of Benevento from 743 to 749.
- With the arrival of the Franks from the north, the abbey found itself in a border area between the Franks and the Lombards. : In 774 the frank Ambrogio Autperto was abbot. In 782 the Lombard Potone became abbot: he was deposed for having left the choir during a praise sung to Charlemagne; only by swearing allegiance to the king of the Franks was he able to return to his posts. On 27 March 787 the same king of the Franks granted fiscal and jurisdictional privileges such as to equate the abbey to the major European ones. In the 9th century, with the abbots Giosuè, Talarico and Epifanio the abbey expanded into a small city, with 350 brothers and vast land holdings.
- In 848 the abbey was damaged by an earthquake. Twelve years later she was blackmailed by Sawdān, Emir of Bari, to which a large tribute was paid to avoid being looted. In 881 some Saracens in the pay of Duke Atanasio II of Naples, thanks to the betrayal of the monks' servants, plundered and burned the monastery. The survivors fled to Capua; they returned to build the abbey in 914, succeeding only at the end of the century thanks to the direct support of the emperors Otto II and Otto III. The monks tried to build a podestà in the Upper Volturno Valley through the administration of justice and the collection of taxes.
- At the end of the 11th century the monks, to defend themselves from a possible Norman attack, moved to a more defensible position; in 1115 Pope Pasquale II consecrated the new abbey church. In the twelfth century, the Norman conquest of the Abruzzi took place, which gradually led to the disintegration of the monastic lordship in the following centuries. In 1349 a new earthquake destroyed San Vincenzo al Volturno, leaving room for the political expansion of Montecassino. Occupied by an ever smaller number of brothers, from the 15th century the abbey began to be managed, both spiritually and economically, from the outside. In 1669 all the territories of the Volturnense abbey were assigned to the Cassinensi monks who administer it in all respects, a fact that definitively sanctioned the end of its autonomy.
- Due to the bombing of the Second World War, some parts of the ruins of the abbey and a small subsequent church suffered heavy damage. Angelo Pantoni, a monk of Montecassino, has been involved in the installation of a new monastery for years. Thanks to him, since 1989 San Vincenzo al Volturno has once again hosted a community: the Benedictine women who came from the cenoby of Connecticut Regina Laudis.
- The Chronicon Vulturnense
- The first historical events relating to the ancient abbey are collected in the Chronicon Vulturnense, an illuminated manuscript. The monk Giovanni wrote this text in Beneventan script around 1130, drawing on sources from the 8th, 9th and early 10th centuries, but often tampering with information for hagiographic purposes. However, the Chronicon rearranged the memories of the monastery, at a time when central Italy was threatened by Norman expansion. Today the codex is kept in the Vatican Apostolic Library, BAV Barb. lat. 2724.
- The exterior of the abbey it is marked by the boundaries drawn by the Roman settlement before its construction. There are traces of walls and a colonnade with pointed arches exactly in front of the building's garden.
- The monastic complex consists of the church and a building for the monks, faithfully rebuilt after the Second World War, located to the right of the church facade. The body of the church has a rectangular basilica plan with a gabled façade. Important decorations are the rose window and the portico. On the left side there is an imposing bell tower with double bell arches on each side.
- The Palazzetto dei monaci is composed of a house made of rectangular rough stone and a small church attached to it. Next to it is another building with a room used as a museum.
- The interior it has three naves with various chapels placed alongside the apse. The remains of the frescoes still visible in situ today show the main scenes of the Gospel, but also of important historical events for the abbey such as the intercession by Justinian and Charlemagne.
- The Frescoes they are an example of the Lombard pictorial movement of Benevento, the work of anonymous artists linked to the Benevento School of miniature, made in the second quarter of the 9th century.
- Martyrdom of Saints Lorenzo and Stefano
- The scene is divided into two episodes. In the first, San Lorenzo is immobilized on a grill above a furnace, and in the second Santo Stefano he is stuck on a wall while the crowd reaches him with stones in their hands. Lorenzo is lying on his stomach on the ground while the guards torment him with pitchforks.
- Santo Stefano, on the other hand, is interpreted differently because the painting is mutilated. He is the protagonist of the scene, placed in the center, while he waves his arms and smiles, a sign that he is happy to die for Jesus.: From the right and left the enemies throw stones that are of various colors.
- Group of frescoes in the crypt of Bishop Epifanio
- The crypt is the most decorated part: scenes of the saint's conversion with baptism are shown; the Crucifixion at the high altar; Christ seated on the throne with the Gospel; the miracle of the archangel Raphael; always Raffaele who hovers in the sky framed in a purple-red circle; a portrait of Mary as Queen of Heaven who possesses the Gospel; of the Angels in prayer, which serve as a frame element. These are represented by wings of various colors: from red to yellow and from green to blue.
- Other frescoes show an old man blessing (perhaps Peter the Apostle), two saints of the illustrious Roman families, and more important scenes from the Life of Jesus, taken from the Gospels. Among these stands the Nativity which shows the Madonna and Child surrounded by two shepherds in the act of covering and offering gifts to Jesus. There are also scenes from the life of Bishop Epiphanius.
- Samnite walls. The remains of the Cyclopean walls of the Saanitic period are almost a km long and were discovered on Mount Santa Croce, at an altitude of one thousand meters. The height of the fortifications in some places reaches three meters. It is believed that they were built before the Samnite wars, that is, in the period in which the Roman expansionist aims were more pressing.
Events and parties
- Palio of the districts.
in August.
in August.What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 Better Pub Restaurant, Via Aldo Moro, 12, ☎ 39 0865 953031.
- 2 L'Incontro Restaurant, Via Aldo Moro, 1, ☎ 39 0865 953602.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 B&B Castello Pandone de 'Lombardi, via Castello. Located in part of the castle.
Safety
Pharmacy
- 1 Massari, Via A. Moro, 12, ☎ 39 0865 953021.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 2 Italian post, Via Aldo Moro, 23, ☎ 39 0865 953129.
Around
- Isernia - Among the first documented Paleolithic settlements in Europe, it was then a flourishing Samnite city, capital of the Italic League, later a Roman Municipium. Its millennial past has left it with an important monumental heritage that extends up to the pre-Roman era, as well as very important prehistoric finds.
- Castel di Sangro - It was a Roman city, then a fief of the Borrellos; the ruins of the medieval castle and the nearby megalithic walls testify to the past greatness of port of Abruzzo.
Itineraries
- Castles in the province of Isernia - There are numerous manors of theMolise Apennines in the countries ofUpper Molise, ofIsernino he was born in Venafrano. Some are in ruins due to war or earthquakes; others have been recovered; many have a military aspect, with little or no external architectural evolution of transformation into a stately home.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Cerro al Volturno
Commons contains images or other files on Cerro al Volturno
