Teano. Monastery of Santa Caterina

Santa Maria degli Angeli, parish church of Pietrelcina, preserves the polychrome wooden statue of the Neapolitan school of the end of the seventeenth century depicting the Madonna della Libera, patron saint of Pietrelcina, which Padre Pio affectionately calls "our Madonnella". In this church Fra Pio began his apostolate and, having obtained the diaconate, he administered the first baptism to a child who later became a Redemptorist priest. In this regard it is said that Padre Pio put so much salt, that the newborn, opening his little mouth, squinted his eyes - "smerzava l`uocchie" - words of Brother Pio, who frightened ran to the archpriest Don Salvatore Pannullo, saying: " I killed the child ”. On the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption, on 14 August 1910, four days after being ordained a priest, Padre Pio celebrated his first mass. A few days later he wrote to Father Benedetto of San Marco in Lamis: "For several days I was a little sick; perhaps the main cause of this was the too much emotion to which the spirit has been subject in these days… my heart is overflowing with joy and it feels stronger and stronger to encounter any affliction, when it comes to pleasing Jesus ”. In this church Padre Pio had interminable moments of prayer and intimacy with God, ecstasy at the foot of the altar, and the mystical phenomenon of the fusion of hearts: "The heart of Jesus and mine, allow me the expression, were no longer two hearts that beat, but only one. My heart was gone, like a drop of water that gets lost in the sea ”. And again: "I feel everything burn without fire ... a thousand flames consume me, I feel I am dying continuously and still alive". Padre Pio celebrated masses in this church that were "too long" and "incomprehensible mystery" so much so that the guardian father had asked the parish priest to recall him in his mind, because in this way he would immediately obey him out of holy obedience.

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

The Avalos castle of Vairano Patenora is a square-shaped building with stone perimeter walls and four cylindrical corner towers. it was built by Ripandulf VI in the 11th century.

The sanctuary of Montevergine is a Marian monastic complex of Mercogliano, located in the hamlet of Montevergine: it is a national monument. The territorial abbey of Montevergine is one of the six Italian territorial abbeys. Inside the painting of the Madonna di Montevergine is venerated and it is estimated that every year it is visited by about one and a half million pilgrims.

Dating back to the 14th century, the Church is made up of a single rectangular nave and a semicircular apse, the latter frescoed with episodes from the life of the Saint.

The Matese regional park is a protected natural area in Campania. Established with regional law n. 33 of 1993 came into operation only in 2002. The park covers an area of ​​33,326.53 hectares. The Matese park was established with the Campania regional law n. 33 of 1 September 1993 entitled "Establishment of parks and nature reserves in Campania". Due to the lack of approval of the implementing rules of regional law n. 33 of 1993, the park came into operation only in 2002. The reference standard is the resolution of the Campania Regional Council no. 1407 of 12 April 2002. Since 2006, the Matese Regional Park Authority has been based in San Potito Sannitico, in the province of Caserta. The park's first president was Giuseppe Scialla, a university professor and environmentalist. Following the revision of the Italian budget law 2018, the rule was approved that contemplates the future transformation of the Matese park into a national park, with probable involvement of the provinces of Isernia and Campobasso. The territory of the park mainly includes the Matese mountain massif. The highest mountains, of limestone nature, are Mount Mutria, Mount Gallinola and Mount Miletto. The park takes its name from the Matese lake. Another important lake is that of Letino. The park is crossed by two important rivers: the Titerno river and the Tammaro river. The vegetation of the Matese massif is made up, in the lower area, of holm oaks, hornbeams, strawberry trees and other elements typical of the Mediterranean scrub; as you go up, these species are first replaced by Turkey oak and chestnut and by majestic and imposing beech trees. Here and there you can find wild rowan, maple, dogwood, ash, ash and silver fir. Among the numerous herbaceous plants of the clearings and the undergrowth we note the gentian, the foxglove and above all the omnipresent Sambucus ebulus, the most characteristic plant that accompanies the beech forest in the most open and luminous open spaces. The fauna of the massif is also very rich due to the presence of the three lakes (del Matese, di Gallo, di Letino). In addition to the typical species of the broad-leaved forest (fox, marmot, badger, dormouse, great spotted woodpecker, tordella, jay, owl) there are also species of more open environments, such as hare and wild boar, or bare rocky crags such as the black redstart and the rare rock partridge. Among the exceptional presences we find the golden eagle that nests in the steep rocky walls of Valle dell'Inferno, but above all that of the wolf, regularly sighted in the municipalities of Letino and Gallo Matese. The presence of the lakes also favors the settlement of coots and ducks, herons and even storks. In the waters of these reservoirs we find carp, tench, perch, eel and pike, the three last species introduced by man.

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.