Church of the Annunziata or del Carmelo

2023

The church of the Annunziata or of Carmine was built in 1505, adjacent to the ancient convent of the Filippini Fathers, the last resting place of Saint Francesco Caracciolo, who died on 4 June 1608. It has a baroque rather than Renaissance appearance, characterized by a gabled façade divided into two sides with a cornice, and vertically with four pilasters on each side, with Doric capitals. Both the portal and the central window are in line with the axis, although very simple; the bell tower is vaulted, located on the left, and the crowning of the upper triangular architrave is serrated. The altar of the Madonna is the second on the right, and houses an eighteenth-century statue of Columbus, adorned with a crown, holding the Child in one hand and a flower in the other. The decorations of the single nave show Baroque splendour, with projecting columns adorned with golden Ionic capitals, and a mixed plaster between pink and white. The main altar shows a niche with the crowned Madonna between Jesus and a saint.

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Church of San Nicola

10th century building, as revealed by a document from Montecassino, although today it has an 18th century appearance. A document from 1083, a donation from the Count of Sangro Gualtiero Borrello, contains the name of the prior of the church at the time, a certain Giovanni, who was a priest, Benedictine monk and "hermit", that is, a hermit living in the hermitage of Capo del Verrino. The façade is simple, in stone ashlars, with a portal decorated with a tiara with the keys of Saint Peter, with a Latin inscription above. The bell tower is a tower with a spire adorned with green and yellow tiles. The interior has a single nave, made up of two carved wooden altars, plus the main one near the presbytery. The division into side chapels shows fake columns alternating with arches, characterized by gilded Ionic capitals. Furthermore, near the presbytery there is a dome, decorated with frescoes of the four evangelists near the columns that support it.

Autumn landscape #2

Pontifical Marinelli bell foundry

Agnone is famous throughout Italy and Europe for the presence of the ancient Marinelli Foundry, which is in perfect working order and in full swing. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages, and the foundry is remembered for the manufacture of bells for high-profile buildings such as the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii and the Abbey of Montecassino. The first official bells cast by the Marinelli foundry date back to 1339, by the director Nicodemo Marinelli, known as "Campanarus". In the following two centuries, when Italy passed into the hands of the Aragonese, the Marinellis continued to cast bells for the various churches and bell towers that were built throughout the peninsula. In 1924 Pope Pius At the beginning of the 20th century, the Marinellis were called by many churches throughout Italy because the systems for swinging the bells were now obsolete or seriously damaged. When in 1944 the Nazi German occupiers, who had been in civil war with Italy for a year, also arrived in Abruzzo and Molise, the foundry was closed and used as headquarters for battle missions. Furthermore, the bells that were being melted at that time were destroyed by the Nazis and remelted to create combat cannons. Once the Germans were defeated by the Americans, in 1949 the Marinelli foundry remained famous for its contribution, and its name was still on everyone's lips: a reference point for the casting of new bells. After the Second World War in Italy, the Marinellis built the concert of bells for the cathedral of Montecassino, destroyed during the famous battle of the Second World War, and so they continue to contribute to this day, whenever a new church is built, casting the bells necessary for new concerts.

Glimpses of the historic center

Church of St. Emidio

The church of Sant'Emidio dates back to the 14th century, with a Gothic portal, and houses art masterpieces by Giulio Monteverde, Giacomo Colombo, Giovanni and Amalia Dupré. Characteristic are the life-size wooden statues of the 12 apostles, attributed to the Neapolitan school of 1650. Adjacent to the church we find the Emidiana library, rich in ancient texts from the 11th century. The church has a rectangular plan, retaining a gabled façade with a fourteenth-century portal and an oculus rose window. The portal has splays and twisted or chiseled columns with vegetal motifs, and they curve to form a pointed arch, set in a gabled gable. Near the lunette there is the relief of the mystical Lamb carrying the cross, and above the façade the statue of Emidio blessing, who with one hand holds the model of the city of Agnone shaken by an earthquake, that of 1096, which destroyed the primitive church, which is why in the following centuries a new reconstruction was carried out. The bell tower is a simple tower adorned with a recently restored red pyramidal spire. The interior has two naves, with large Durazzesque arches, one covered by a coffered ceiling, and the other by simple medieval wooden trusses, and is the oldest, corresponding to the portal. The baroque nave on the right preserves the paintings of the Nativity, the Holy Family, the Flight into Egypt, and Christ among the Doctors of the Church.

Church of San Antonio Abate

At the beginning of the historic center of Agnone, there is this magnificent medieval church. The simple stone facade has a beautiful Renaissance portal, while the mighty bell tower of about thirty meters stands out from the apse. Entering the single nave interior, you discover a true triumph of splendid Baroque art. On each side there are five wooden altars, precious works by Agnonese artists, containing beautiful canvases. The main altar is a precious polychrome marble work and behind it, in the apse, there is a wooden choir surmounted by a valuable and large canvas depicting the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. The frescoes on the ceiling with religious scenes are stunning, among which a large Last Judgment stands out on the central vault. On the counter-façade, another marvel: the choir with a carved and inlaid wooden pipe organ.

Autumn landscape #3

Church of San Francesco

The church of San Francesco is considered a national monument. Dating back to the 14th century, it has a characteristic Gothic portal surmounted by a fascinating rose window. Worth highlighting is the superb drum dome and the original bell tower (with the final part in wrought iron). Inside the church, with decorations by Ambrosio Piazza, there are very rich altars and frescoes by Paolo Gamba from Molise. Adjacent to the church of San Francesco is the former convent of the Conventual Fathers, with a cloister (on whose walls there are frescoes representing the life of San Francesco), home to the municipal library and the permanent exhibition of ancient books with very rare volumes, including including an ancient copy of Plato's Opera Omnia, dating back to the 16th century.

Agnone (Agnèune in dialetto locale) è un comune italiano di 4 957 abitanti della provincia di Isernia in Molise. Fino al 1811, per circa 600 anni, Agnone e il suo circondario sono sempre stati parte integrante del Giustizierato d'Abruzzo e dell'Abruzzo Citra, nel distretto di Lanciano. Antica città sannita, è sede del più antico stabilimento al mondo per la fabbricazione delle campane (Pontificia fonderia di campane Marinelli), fondato intorno all'anno 1000 e tra i pochi che possano fregiarsi dell'onore di utilizzare per i propri prodotti lo stemma pontificio. Agnone è una cittadina di circa 5000 abitanti ubicata nell'Alto Molise. Si trova a 830 m di altitudine sul livello del mare, circondato da un paesaggio montuoso rivestito da boschi e praterie.

Church of San Pietro

In the historic center of Agnone, there is this medieval church, the oldest in the town. It is very simple, with a stone ashlar façade divided by three frames, with a Renaissance portal and a large window above. At the rear is the medieval bell tower. The interior, seen briefly through an iron grate, has a single nave. It preserves altars, including two beautifully crafted wooden altars, statues of saints and frescoes: a beautiful and well-kept ensemble.

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