Frosolone. Church of Santa Maria Assunta

Castelpetroso is home to the Shrine of Maria Santissima Sorrows, patron saint of Molise. According to the testimony of the visionaries, the Virgin Mary first appeared on March 22, 1888 to two shepherds named Serafina and Bibiana in Cesa between Saints, on the slopes of Mount Patalecchia. This first appearance was followed by others. This phenomenon was later recognized. The shrine, which began with the laying of the first stone on September 28, 1890 and completed in 1975, is made in the neo-Gothic style; seen from above is composed of seven chapels depicting the seven sorrows of Our Lady, in the center of which there is the dome 54 meters high. The shrine and the place of apparitions are connected to each other by the Via Matris, 750 meters long, where precisely remember the seven Marian sorrows.

Vastogirardi (Rë Uàštë in molisano) è un comune italiano di 690 abitanti della provincia di Isernia nel Molise. Si presume che il nome Vastogirardi tragga origine dal nome di un capitano crociato, Giusto Girardi. In passato assunse anche il nome di Castrum Girardi per via del castello (altri toponimi attestati risultano Castel Girardo, Rocca Girardo, Guasti Belardi, Guardia Giraldo e Guardia Gerardo) e successivamente il nome attuale, che semplicisticamente si attribuisce alla felice posizione geografica del paese, dalla cui sommità è possibile godere di un vasto panorama, ma molto più scientificamente da un'allitterazione di gergo longobardo. Il patrimonio archeologico-architettonico di Vastogirardi annovera i resti di un santuario sannitico del II secolo a.C. in località S. Angelo e l'eccezionale complesso del castello fortificato, corte interna e complesso parrocchiale. Portali in pietra delle abitazioni, le stesse in pietrame a pezzatura irregolare, e aperture incorniciate da blocchi lapidei e mensole in pietre sagomate rappresentano invece il carattere dell'edilizia minore. Il castello fu costruito nel XIII secolo dagli Angioini sopra il colle montuoso del borgo. Successivamente appartenne ai Caldora e poi a famiglie del regno di Napoli, tra i quali i Caracciolo. Il castello fu oggetto di consolidamento nel XVIII secolo e con tale restauro fu trasformato in residenza gentilizia. Il castello è inglobato nelle mura di cinta della parte più alta del borgo, includendo la piazza e la chiesa parrocchiale di San Nicola. Si accede da un arco a tutto sesto. Della fortificazione angioina resta una torre circolare, e del periodo Caldoresco un loggiato nella parte all'interno del borgo prospiciente la piazza. Il castello assieme al borgo forma una ellisse. La Chiesa di S. Nicola di Bari risale al XV secolo ma l'edificio risulta integralmente restaurato nel 1702, come attesta un'iscrizione murata nel portale d'ingresso. Ad una sola navata, al cui interno è presente un antico ostensorio in argento, vi si accede attraverso un porticato a sua volta accessibile da una doppia rampa. Al suo fianco vi è un campanile in pietra.

Panorama of Pesche, village in the province of Isernia, in Molise, perched along the steep slopes of Mount San Marco, a white spot against the green of the mountain and the gray of the stones.

Of Benedictine architecture, between the 13th and 14th centuries the Sanctuary, which is flanked by a monastery, represents a complex of very significant religious importance.

The castle occupies a substantial portion of the ancient circular village. It was built around 1100 by Clementina, daughter of Ruggero II Normanno, king of Sicily, when the fiefdom was part of the county of Ugone del Molise. The garrison passed into the hands of the Anjou, the Afflitto and the Rotondi barons. In 1480 it was restored in the Renaissance style as a patrician residence, purchased by Giovanni Donato della Marra, who was count of Macchia. In 1748 the castle was sold to Maria Grazia Rotondi, then sold to Nicola d'Alena. Celeste d'Alena was baroness of Macchia, married to the Frisari, counts of Bisceglie and patricians of Castel San Vincenzo. The façade of the building dominates the square in front of the village, embellished by a Renaissance loggia with round arches. The first part of this loggia dates back to the Aragonese period, with a roof resting on 5 small arches. The rest of the castle is spread over 3 levels, the highest of which is the attic. In the inner courtyard the beautiful Renaissance staircase with the colonnade, which leads to the noble floors, stands out. On the ground floor there are the cellars, the stables and the servants' rooms. The upper floor was the home of the nobles, with various rooms, including the private chapel with different relics. In 1984 the castle was fully restored, being brought back to its eighteenth-century splendor.

Mother church of San Bartolomeo Apostolo. Formerly dedicated to S. Maria Assunta in cielo. Its shape is a Latin cross, with three naves separated by two rows of columns.

This complex testifies to what remains of the Italic temple from the second half of the third century. BC, preserved thanks to the fact that what is now the cathedral of Isernia was built on it.

The basilica sanctuary of Maria Santissima Addolorata, or simply the Addolorata basilica is an important Catholic place of worship located in the municipality of Castelpetroso, in the province of Isernia, and belonging to the archdiocese of Campobasso-Boiano. According to the testimony of the visionaries, the Virgin Mary appeared for the first time on March 22, 1888 to two shepherdesses named Serafina and Bibiana in the locality of Cesa tra Santi, on the slopes of Mount Patalecchia. This first apparition was followed by others and, following the recognition of this phenomenon, Pope Paul VI proclaimed Maria Santissima Addolorata of Castelpetroso patroness of Molise on 6 December 1973. In the 1890s, it was decided to build a sanctuary near the place of the apparitions, but further downstream from this, so that it would be more easily accessible by pilgrims. The project was entrusted to Giuseppe Gualandi, whose death (1944) was succeeded by his son Francesco. On 28 September 1890 the first stone was laid and construction of the sanctuary began. It proceeded slowly due to economic problems and the two world wars: in 1907 the chapel of the Poles was finished and opened for worship, but the perimeter walls of the church were completed only in 1950, thanks to donations from don Nicolino Passarelli, canon theologian of the cathedral of Venafro, lawyer of the Sacra Rota and professor. In the following decades the sanctuary was completed and consecrated on 21 September 1975 by the bishop of Boiano-Campobasso Alberto Carinci.