The identified and recognized images are diverse and can be grouped into various categories: anthropomorphic, geometric, zoomorphic, simple groups of lines, and other unidentifiable figures. Their discovery occurred only in 2011 thanks to Guido Lastoria, a resident of Civitanova del Sannio, arousing enthusiasm and interest from the scientific community, so much so that they have been the subject of study and research by the archaeological cooperative “Le Orme dell’Uomo” together with the University of Ferrara.

The research revealed that the Morricone del Pesco shelter is the first evidence of rock art in Molise, and its discovery has enriched the list of prehistoric sites in Central and Southern Italy.

During the 1990s, the artist Alessandro Caetani created seven wonderful life-size sculptural groups that reproduce the same scenes portrayed in the aedicules, significantly enriching the representation of the Gospel story to the point of emotionally affecting all the faithful who walk the path.

The Sanctuary of Castelpetroso is the starting and ending point of a journey of spirituality and maternal love. Here, amid sacred chants and the scent of incense, devotees gather to honor Mary and ask for her protection.

The Seven “Bitterest” Sorrows

There are various interpretations of the “seven sorrows” or “seven swords” that wounded the Virgin’s heart. According to the most recent ones, these are not limited to episodes of the Passion but refer to Mary’s entire life and therefore also include events from Jesus’ childhood.

The program began in Rome with a question much larger than any individual farm or meal: Who has the right to food, and how do we build systems capable of delivering it?

At the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), students visited the Right to Food office and later attended two days of UN Nutrition Week, hearing from experts working at the intersection of nutrition, food security, policy, and sustainable development. They also visited a Caritas food pantry through the Rome Food Policy Council, moving in a single day from conversations about global food security to the realities of getting food into the hands of people who need it within one city.

That movement between scales continued throughout their week in Rome.

At a public school cafeteria, students observed meal preparation and service and explored how nutrition and sustainability become part of everyday institutional decision-making. A food and archaeology tour with food writer Katie Parla traced questions of agriculture, trade, regulation, imports, waste, and consumption through thousands of years of Roman history. At CREA‘s research farm, students encountered current research into sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, biodiversity, food science, technology, and the circular bioeconomy.

Then, at Co.r.ag.gio, those ideas returned to the soil. The youth-led agricultural cooperative combines organic production with education and environmental stewardship, growing vegetables, cereals, more than 50 varieties of fruit, olives, and organic honey while exploring how agriculture can contribute to Rome’s urban food system.

Even ancient Rome joined the conversation. At Ostia Antica, the former port city became a classroom for considering how food moved through the Roman Empire, reminding students that questions about production, transportation, trade, and access are hardly new.

Campobasso sits near the center of Molise, between the valleys of the Biferno and Fortore rivers and surrounded by the rolling hills and mountains that characterize the region’s interior.

The city itself unfolds across two distinct landscapes. The oldest neighborhoods climb Montebello, or Monforte Hill, where the medieval borgo rises toward Castello Monforte at roughly 790 meters (2,590 feet) above sea level. Below it spreads the more spacious modern city, characterized by broad streets, piazzas, gardens, civic buildings, shops, and cafés.

Historic cellars and old homes throughout the village, normally closed to the public, are opened and transformed into places to eat, drink, and gather. Rather than experiencing the festival from a single piazza or row of food stands, visitors make their way through Guardiaregia’s narrow streets and alleys, moving from one cellar to another and discovering the village along the way.

Inside, the focus is unmistakably Molisan. Traditional dishes and local products are paired with wines, offering a taste of the foods and flavors connected to the surrounding territory. Outside, popular music and entertainment follow visitors through the streets, turning the route between cellars into part of the celebration itself.

Over the years, Cantine Di…Vine has grown into a much-anticipated autumn tradition, but its setting keeps the experience closely tied to Guardiaregia. Perched at the foot of the Matese and surrounded by the natural landscape of the WWF Oasis of Guardiaregia-Campochiaro, the village provides a fitting backdrop for a festival centered on seasonality, place, and the fruits of the land.

Women’s clothing, on the other hand, is striking in its designs, animated by bright colors and numerous accessories, selected primarily based on age and social status. A young woman, for example, wore light robes that jealously concealed her supple feminine curves. Once engaged, her clothes were enriched with accessories such as scissors or a knife (given by her betrothed), symbols of domestic skill and purity.

The peak of this ascent, however, suffered an initial abrupt halt in 881 when a Saracen attack, orchestrated by the Duke and Bishop of Naples, Athanasius II, brought the monastery to the brink of collapse. Hundreds of brothers were massacred, while looting and fires reduced the sacred site to desolation, forcing the survivors to flee. Returning to Castel San Vincenzo only around 920, in significantly smaller numbers, the monks devoted themselves to the partial reconstruction of their structures but soon decided to abandon the original site altogether, opting to build a new monastery of significantly smaller dimensions on the opposite bank of the Volturno River, in what is now known as “San Vincenzo Nuovo”.

After this abandonment, oblivion and nature reclaimed the remains of what was once an illustrious center known and inhabited by great and noble abbots, intellectuals, theologians, and saints. Only many centuries later, in the early 1980s and thanks to the research of Professor Richard Hodges, did the first remains of San Vincenzo al Volturno resurface. Numerous churches, refectories, guesthouses, cloisters, and kitchens, along with richly decorated rooms, once again become tangible evidence of this place’s great history. Hundreds of artifacts (worked glass, jewelry, sculptures, epigraphs, mosaics, marble and ceramic floors) represent the fruit of the skilled craftsmanship of the monks, workers, and master craftsmen who dedicatedly worked in the monastic workshops and laboratories.

The learning began almost as soon as the group arrived in Rome, where their first dinner included an introduction to the history and traditions of Roman cuisine. Familiar dishes such as cacio e pepe, carbonara, amatriciana, and gricia provided an early opportunity to consider how relatively simple combinations of seasonal ingredients became enduring expressions of regional identity.

But it was in Molise that students began tracing those relationships more deeply.

Their first stop was Bas & Co in Pesche, where a hands-on pizza-making experience introduced a production philosophy that begins long before dough enters the oven—with the selection of grains, milling of flour, slow fermentation, and careful sourcing of artisanal and locally rooted ingredients. After making (and eating) their own pizza, students continued into the mountains of Alto Molise and Agnone.

There, one day became a study in how traditional knowledge can continue to create economic value in a changing world.

At Caseificio Di Nucci, students entered the artisanal laboratory to see how caciocavallo di Agnone, scamorza, stracciata, and other cheeses are produced before exploring the family’s Museum of Cheesemaking and Transhumance and tasting the results. A lesson in sustainable baking followed at Panificio Pasticceria Alto Molise, while a stop at Caffè Letterario used one of Italy’s most recognizable products—espresso—to explore the relationship between consumption, ritual, identity, and social life.

The day even extended beyond food. At the Pontificia Fonderia di Campane Marinelli, students encountered another family enterprise where specialized knowledge has been transmitted across generations. The centuries-old bell foundry offered a parallel question central to the program: how do traditional businesses preserve cultural heritage while remaining economically relevant in the present?