Theatre and temple of the Samnites below the rock 'morge'
In the mountains of upper Molise, at about 1,000 metres, on the slopes of Monte Caraceno, lies one of the most important and evocative archaeological sites of central-southern Italy: the Samnite sanctuary of Pietrabbondante, the greatest religious and political centre of the Samnites, the fierce Italic people of the Apennines who fought for decades against Rome in the Samnite Wars of the fourth and third centuries BC. The sanctuary, probably the federal sanctuary of the Pentri, the main Samnite tribe, was built between the third and first centuries BC and was abandoned after the Social War, when the Samnites were definitively subjugated by Rome.
The most spectacular monument is the theatre, of the late second century BC, built in a refined Hellenistic style, with its curved seats of stone, still intact, ending in sculpted telamons and griffin paws, an elegant work that shows the cultural level of the Samnites. Behind the theatre, on a higher terrace, stand the remains of a large temple, called Temple B, on a high podium, and of an earlier temple. The site is set in a splendid landscape of meadows and woods, with a view over the valley, while above the village of Pietrabbondante tower the "morge", huge rocks of strange shapes, which give the village its unmistakable profile and a striking atmosphere. Pietrabbondante is a place where the Samnite civilisation, so little known, reveals all its greatness.
Tip: sit on the seats of the theatre and enjoy the silence; climb up to the morge above the village for the view.
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