Gambatesa, Province Campobasso, Molise, Italy

On a picturesque crest amid olive trees, it is reached after passing through the beautiful Chiusano forest. The "Traglie", a very peculiar procession, takes place on the last Sunday in July, with rustic sledges drawn by oxen, loaded with wheat and offered in honor of the Madonna della Vittoria, in memory of a miracle that saved the sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vittoria from destruction, when the army of Frederick II of Swabia passed through the area in the 13th century.
In the 13th century its feudal lord was Riccardo di Gambatesa, whose daughter and heir Sibilia married Giovanni Monforte, sothat thefamily tookthe name of Monforte-Gambatesa. Afterwards if was a fiefdom of the Di Capua family and later the Grimaldi, and enjoyed some prosperity until the deadly 1657 plague, that killed a large part of the population. In 1799 Gambatesa sided with the French, and was sacked by the followers of the Bourbons.