Things to Do and See in Isernia

In Isernia, the capital of the province of the same name, visitors can admire numerous monuments, including the Fontana della Fraterna, dedicated to Pope Celestine V and dating back to the 14th century, the cathedral, dating from the early Middle Ages, and the Church of San Francesco, built at the behest of Francis of Assisi in 1222. Among the civic buildings, we should mention Palazzo San Francesco, in the Gothic style, which houses City Hall, and the Santa Maria delle Monache Museum, located in the former convent of Santa Maria Assunta, which preserves prehistoric artifacts from the Paleolithic era found in the nearby town of La Pineta, an archaeological site rich in remains of an ancient human settlement dating back some 730,000 years. There are numerous sites of historical and cultural interest scattered throughout the rest of the province, starting with the archaeological site of Pietrabbondante, where the remains of what was once a Samnite settlement dating from the 2nd century B.C. to 95 B.C. can be found; followed by the Archaeological Museum of Venafro, housed in the former convent of St. Chiara, which features archaeological finds from the pre-Roman and Roman periods. Also worth visiting are the Zampogna Museum in Scapoli, which displays zampogne from various periods, both Italian and foreign; the Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions in San Pietro Avellana; and the Bell Museum in Agnone.