Belmonte del Sannio, Province Isernia, Molise, Italy

Rising on a picturesque hill, the town belonged until 1812 to the Province of Chieti. The earliest settlement followed most probably the destruction of Samnite Aquilonia by the Romans in 293 BC. A document of 1027 mentions the foundation here by the count of Monteodorisio of the Abbey of Santa Maria della Noce, which was one of the greatest Benedictine abbeys of Southern Italy. The abbey then disappeared in a ruinous landslide and nothing remains. Belmonte was included in the Terra Burrellensis under the Normans and Angevins, and was later ruled by the Cantelmo, Filangieri, Di Sangro, Caldora and Caracciolo. A beautiful festival, the "sagra del granone" takes place in September.