Pizzone, Italy
Encyclopedia
Pizzone is a comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) in the Province of Isernia
Province of Isernia
The Province of Isernia is a province in the Molise region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Isernia....
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
, located about 50 km west of Campobasso
Campobasso
-Main sights:The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local ruler Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins. The castle has Guelph merlons and stands on a commanding point, where traces of ancient settlements have been found...
and about 20 km northwest of Isernia
Isernia
Isernia Isernia Isernia (Latin: Aesernia or, in Pliny and later writers, Eserninus, or in the Antonine Itinerary, Serni is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Molise, and the capital of Isernia province.- Geography :...
near the Monti della Meta
Monti della Meta
The Monti della Meta are a massif of central Italy located around the junction point of the boundaries between the regions of Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise. The major of three massifs of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, they take their name from one of the peaks, Monte Meta...
chain.
History
The area around Pizzone has certainly been inhabited since the Neolithic period, and that has been proved by a series of lithic artifacts discovered in their respective state and currently held in a museum of CampobassoCampobasso
-Main sights:The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local ruler Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins. The castle has Guelph merlons and stands on a commanding point, where traces of ancient settlements have been found...
.
The rocky area around Pizzone was part of a thoroughfare that ran through the Mainardi mountains. During the Samnite period, this area took on additional importance this way, linking the commercial and military touti separated by the mountains. The road, reaching S. Vito di Colli, Cerro, and crossing the path of S. Francesco, came up to Aufidena, now Alfedena. The road was certainly used by the Roman militia during the Samnite wars of the fourth century
In Pizzone's case, as for most other villages and boroughs in the valley, the first histories of the area were described in the Volturnense Chronicle. A few decades after the destruction at the hand of the Arab invasions of 881 AD, and at the time of the reconstruction of the Abbey of S. Vincenzo al Volturno, Fr. Raimbaldi, overlord of the area, decided to start populating the area between 935 and 981 with settlers from the land of the Marsi to which the Abbey gave plots for 29 years. The villages of Jannini, Roccasecca, Cerquacupa, and Viscurri were created from this; some of their ruins still remain.
Charles II of Anjou granted Pizzone autonomy from the jurisdiction of the Abbey by a decree of 13 October 1295 and the village was assigned as a fief to Andrea of Isernia. After the death of Andrea in 1316, Pizzonia (earlier Latin Piczotum) was incorporated into Abruzzo Citra
Abruzzo Citra
Abruzzo Citra or Abruzzo Citeriore was a province of the Kingdom of Naples established by Charles of Anjou when he divided Giustizierato of Abruzzo into two parts: Ultra flumen Aprutium Piscariae and Aprutium citra flumen Piscariae .Abruzzo Citra was located south of the Pescara...
(now the Province of Chieti
Province of Chieti
The Province of Chieti is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Chieti.It has an area of 2,588 km², and a total population of 381,993...
), as shown by Regesti Angevin in 1320. In 1383 the monks had to sell more land around the Castrum Piczoni in order to restore the abbey.
According to various sources, the feudal overlords of Pizzone were the Leoness afamily in the first half of the 14th century, while in the later half the Caldora family took over. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, it became a fief of Pando, who already lorded Venafro, and was later possessed by the Marquis de Bucchis; in 1777 it passed on to Domenico Cestari and finally to the Marquis Pietro Battiloro.
With the abolition of feudalism in 1809 began a long series of mayors. By a decree of 17 February 1861 Pizzone became incorporated into the Region of Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
and later with the creation of the National Park of Abruzzo in 1929.
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
, celebrated on 6 December, is the patron saint of Pizzone, while on 10 June the feast of Saint Liberata
Saint Liberata
Saint Liberata may refer to:*The French name for Saint Wilgefortis*One of the sisters of St. Marina of Aguas Santas*Saint Liberata , the sister of Saint Faustina, 6th century foundress of that town's convent...
is celebrated, featuring a famous statue of her crucified.