| Sepino | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Molise | |
| Altitude | 698 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 61.37 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 2.041 (31/12/2010) | |
| Name inhabitants | sepinesi | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0874 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 86017 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | Santa Cristina | |
Position
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| Tourism site | ||
| Institutional website | ||
Sepino is a center of the Molise in the province of Campobasso.
To know
It is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy
Geographical notes
Sepino is located at 698 m a.s.l., on a wooded hill at the foothills of the Matese Massif.
Background
The first human traces in the Sepino area refer to the discovery of a prehistoric Neolithic hut in a wood at the foot of Mount Mutria (dated between 3600 and 3000 BC).
From the fourth century. to. c. it was inhabited by Italic populations whose territorial organization provided for the birth of a vicus in a flat or foothill area, in any case easy to access, capable of centralizing productive, agricultural, breeding, trading and craft functions and the construction of fortified centers in mountainous areas (the oppida and i castella). This is also the case of the Samnite settlement in our territories: a vicus downstream (on which the Roman municipality of Saepinum would later rise) and the so-called "Ocre Saipinatz", which translated from the Oscan language means "work to defend the enclosure", in the locality Terravecchia. Along with the fortifications, sanctuaries were also built.
After the conquest by the Romans around 300 BC, the city of Saepinum begins to take on the dimension of an urban center under the empire of Augustus: the walls, towers, gates, the Theater, the Baths, the Macellum, the Basilica, the Hole and monuments. The urban center of Saepinum, the current Altilia, datable between 4 BC and 2 AD, it was above all a place of passage, intended as a shelter for transhumant flocks and a market place, but it also became a holiday destination for many nobles of the city.
The territorial layout of the city follows the pre-existing Samnite village, in fact also the new streets of the Roman city, the Thistle connects the South-West with the North-East, while the Decumanus the North-West with the South-East (unlike what entered the newly founded Roman cities).
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the place was abandoned and there is no memory of what it was until the foundation, at the end of the Early Middle Ages, of today's Sepino.Feudo passed over the years into the hands of various families, lives together with the whole kingdom of Naples the alternating fortunes of the Revolution, of the French dominion and the Restoration.A period of development follows the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, which seem to lead Sepino to deserve the nickname of city, but the world wars, first, and the consequent depopulation, later, thwarts these hopes.
How to orient yourself
Sepino: full screen map.How to get
How to get around
What see
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- 1 Archaeological site of Altilia - Saepinum, Roman Theater - Altilia locality, ☎ 39 0874 790207.
Archaeological area: free. Museum: Full ticket: € 2.00 (from 26 to 60 years old). Reduced ticket: € 1.00 (from 19 to 25 years old). Free admission: under 18 - over 65. The ticket office is located in the auditorium of the theater.. 
Area always accessible. Museum: Summer opening hours: morning 09: 00-13: 30 afternoon 15: 00-18: 30. Winter opening hours: morning 09: 00-13: 30 afternoon 15: 00-17: 30. Closed on Mondays. There are numerous remains of the Roman city of Saepinum, excavated starting from 1950. Among the Roman ruins there are numerous farmhouses built with bare stones starting from the 18th century and today used as the seat of a lapidary and the offices of the custodians.
Archaeological area: free. Museum: Full ticket: € 2.00 (from 26 to 60 years old). Reduced ticket: € 1.00 (from 19 to 25 years old). Free admission: under 18 - over 65. The ticket office is located in the auditorium of the theater.. 
Area always accessible. Museum: Summer opening hours: morning 09: 00-13: 30 afternoon 15: 00-18: 30. Winter opening hours: morning 09: 00-13: 30 afternoon 15: 00-17: 30. Closed on Mondays. There are numerous remains of the Roman city of Saepinum, excavated starting from 1950. Among the Roman ruins there are numerous farmhouses built with bare stones starting from the 18th century and today used as the seat of a lapidary and the offices of the custodians.- The plan of Saepinum is typical of Roman cities even if the excavations have concentrated on the decumanus major and the cardo massimo. The doors are consequently four (three of which with the arch still preserved): Porta Benevento; Porta Terravecchia; Porta Bojano; Porta Tammaro.
- The Forum, with a rectangular plan, is still paved with stone slabs. The public buildings opened onto it: the Curia, the Capitolium and the Basilica. The latter still has the twenty circular columns of the Ionic order and with a smooth shaft that surrounded a peristyle. The theater is well preserved, only partially excavated in the seventies and consisting of the stage and the stalls, both in worked local stone. Capable of holding about 3,000 seats, it is surrounded by some former farmhouses built in a later period, which follow the semicircular shape of the stalls.
