The best MTB trails around Frosolone

Madonna at Lake Carpinone, devotion from the people of Carpinone for having been saved from German barbarity in 1944.

Busso fountain.

Macchiagodena is an Italian municipality of 1,648 inhabitants in the province of Isernia in Molise. History Although the town is a medieval Lombard castrum, news of a Samnite village comes from archaeological finds found in the surrounding hills. Among the finds is an oinochoe from the 6th century BC. C. near Piana di Achille and Fosso Pampalone. The Italic village stood near the sheep track that developed from the major one that from Aufidena (Pescasseroli) went to Puglia, this village stood in the Valle Fredda area, whose finds are preserved in the Sannitico Museum of Campobasso. Although the village was not a real vital center with notable walls and temples, it was certainly conquered in the 1st century BC. C. from Rome and suffered the destruction of the Vandals after the end of the empire. The new castrum was founded in 964, known as Maccla de Godino, by the counts Pandolfo and Landolfo of nearby Isernia. In 1000, the fiefdom was owned by the powerful Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno, to which it was sold by Maria di Roffredo to Abbot Maraldo. The original church of Sant'Apollinare, which has now disappeared, was also included. In the 13th century it was the Cantelmo family who dominated the fiefdom, and in the following century the Pandone family took over, who had their headquarters in the castle of Venafro. However, Macchiagodena never had stable owners, since over the course of half a century it was always handed over to new families. In the fifteenth century it belonged to the Caetani of Baranello and then to the Mormile of Castelpagano. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it belonged to the Piscicelli (1615) and then to the Caracciolo family. In 1781 the fiefdom was purchased by the Centomani family in the person of Nicola Centomani (1720-1818) who obtained the related marquisal title. In 1799 with the French conquest of Molise, Macchiagodena entered the Sangro department, then the district of Isernia. In 1815 it took over the district of Cantalupo nel Sannio. The serious Molise earthquake of 1805 destroyed the main churches in Macchiagodena, which were rebuilt in neoclassical style. Macchiagodena, with its Piazzetta della Letteratura, where you can read books made available for free to everyone, has given life to the project "Genius Loci. Bring me a book that I'll give you my soul" which allows you to receive free holidays in exchange for a book donated to the town library. It has been the national headquarters of the Reading Villages since 2016, and is also part of the National Truffle Cities Association and the Authentic Villages of Italy Association. Source: Wikipedia

Frosolone (Frescëlonë in Molise, Frusëlónë in Frosolonese dialect) is an Italian municipality of 2,797 inhabitants in the province of Isernia in Molise. The hypotheses which derive the name Frosolone from the Frosone, which some identify as the bird present in the municipal banner, must be considered Paretymologies, as well as that which associates it with an unidentified Samnite settlement cited by Livy, Fresilia and that according to which Frosolone it would have been founded by Benedictine monks coming from Frosinone, who would therefore have called the new settlement with the name of their place of origin. Before the Roman age the area was inhabited by Samnite populations, as evidenced by the presence of polygonal megalithic wall enclosures, visible on the mountain above the town, in the Civitelle area. These remains belong to what is defined as a high-altitude settlement: a fortified settlement of not very large dimensions, probably intended to be inhabited only in certain periods of the year, with generically defensive functions. As with many other centers in Molise, the medieval phase of the town ended drastically with the earthquake of 1456: according to what Antonino Pierozzi reports in his Chronicon, Frosolone was totally razed to the ground and there were 317 victims[16]; this information was then taken up by various authors, including Giovanni Antonio Summonte, who recalls how the town "largely fell, with the death of 318 people". There are regular testimonies of Frosolone starting from the Spanish period; in this era it went through an intense phase of development: together with Agnone and Trivento it hosted one of the three bishop's residences of the diocese. There is also a war fortification, which concerns very few centers in Molise, with the construction of an armed ravel in the area where today stands the so-called loggia dei pezzenti, the space known as Largo XX Settembre. In the early years of the 19th century, Frosolone was one of the most populous inhabited centers in the Molise countryside: in the same period in which it was close to 4,000 inhabitants, Agnone had around 7,500, Boiano around 3,500, Campobasso around 5,500, Isernia around 6,900. The 1805 earthquake imposed a major setback in the country's development; this second catastrophe seems to have had an equally disastrous outcome as that of 1456: sources of the time define it as "almost entirely adequate for the ground", and report a figure (how reliable it is not known) of a thousand deaths and 46 injuries out of a population of 4,000 souls. Source: Wikipedia

The Hermitage, at the foot of the Morgia Quadra of Frosolone (IS), is a true pearl. To welcome visitors, the ancient church of Sant'Egidio which, in the Middle Ages, was a chapel, dependent on the nearby convent of Sant'Onofrio. Protected by the Antonians, according to tradition, it has become famous for the numerous miraculous healings of which the monks were protagonists. At the beginning of 1300, after the Church of Rome excommunicated the congregation, the chapel was destroyed together with the convent of Sant'Onofrio. In the following years, it was rebuilt, probably by hermits and livestock sellers, who went to Sant'Egidio for the end-of-summer fair. In 1704, thanks to Michele Vago and Antonio Zaccagnino, a real church was built in place of the chapel. Falling to pieces with the earthquake of 1805, the small complex was rebuilt and subsequently restored several times. The last renovation took place in the 1980s. The church of Sant'Egidio represents a place of worship very dear to the people of Frosolone, above all because it houses the statue of the Crowned Virgin which, according to tradition, has appeared near the church several times. Furthermore, inside the sacred walls, an ancient and precious manuscript is preserved which lists some miracles performed by Sant'Egidio. Going beyond the church, what is most striking is, certainly, the surrounding landscape. In these sections, it is possible to see some horses in the wild or, more simply, calm herds of cows and flocks of sheep that, at sunset, go to water, after an abundant meal of fodder. The same one that makes Frosolone milk and cheeses so good as to satisfy the palates of the most severe gourmets. Source: www.moliseeccellenze.it There is also a fountain for hikers!

Castropignano is a town in Molise with about 2,000 inhabitants, whose origins date back to the 4th century BC. It is a beautiful village located on a rocky ridge with a view over the Biferno river valley. The main attraction is the castle of Evoli, a suggestive building erected during the Lombard domination and transformed by the Normans in the 11th century. The historic center offers narrow streets and bell towers that represent the charm of the medieval village. https://www.visitmolise.eu/scheda-localita/-/d/dms/1508576/castropignano

A beautiful course, well kept!

MTB route with hairpin bends immersed in the Bosco della Contessa 🌲🌲