Visiting Campobasso: castle, old town, Misteri, Matese and drove roads

Sights by group

Old town and castle: the Monforte Castle (fifteenth century) on the summit of the hill, with views of the Matese and the Majella on clear days; descending, the Romanesque church of San Giorgio (twelfth century), San Bartolomeo with its carved portal, San Leonardo, the stairways and alleys. Murat town: the neoclassical Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, piazza Prefettura with Palazzo San Giorgio (town hall), corso Vittorio Emanuele, the De Capoa public gardens with their historic garden, the Teatro Savoia.

Museums: the Museo dei Misteri, which keeps the thirteen procession machines and tells the tradition; the Samnite Museum, archaeological, with finds from the Samnites and the province's ancient centres; the International Museum of the Miniature Nativity Scene and the Fondazione Molise Cultura (former GIL building) with temporary exhibitions.

Day trips

Sepino, with the archaeological area of Saepinum, a Roman town with intact walls in the middle of fields (30 minutes); the Matese massif with Campitello Matese (skiing in winter, hiking in summer) and the lake; the tratturi, the ancient transhumance drove roads crossing Molise, walked or cycled; Termoli with its old town on the sea and ferries to the Tremiti islands (an hour); Isernia with its Palaeolithic site (Isernia La Pineta museum) and Pietrabbondante with the Samnite theatre; Agnone and its bells; Larino with the Roman amphitheatre; the villages of Ferrazzano and Oratino at the city's gates.

Seasons and crowds

Campobasso receives modest tourism, concentrated on Corpus Domini Sunday (Procession of the Misteri, tens of thousands of spectators in the centre), the San Giorgio feast and the Christmas period with markets in the old town. Summer brings visitors passing through to Termoli and the Matese; winter the skiers of Campitello. At all other times the city and its museums are quiet.

Tourist tax and information

The Comune applies a tourist tax in accommodation; the tourist office is in the centre. The state-run Samnite Museum is free on the first Sunday of the month.