Molise

Molise

Molise is the youngest Italian region, since it was established in 1963, when the region "Abruzzi e Molise" was split into two regions, which, however, still today maintain a common identity both geographically and in their historical and traditional heritage. The region is divided into two provinces, Campobasso, the regional capital, and Isernia. Molise comprises 136 municipalities, most of them very small, but each unique and worth seeing.

It is a mostly mountainous region and the economy, in past centuries, highly depended on the transit of shepherds and their flocks from Abruzzo to Apulia. Today it still relies heavily on agriculture and livestock raising, though food and garment industries are undergoing many developments.

Molise is a paradise for nature lovers, the summer is very hot and winters very cold with a climate more alpine than you would expect in the South of Italy.

Polenta is present throughout the territory: the success had by pasta has not weakened the eternal everyday relevance of polenta, an almost exclusive food for the poor populations of the Po valley at the extreme buttresses of the Apennines. Just like the polenta in the Abruzzi, in Molise it is generally dressed with rich pork or lamb sauces.