Agnone (Agnèune in the local dialect) is an Italian town of 4,901
inhabitants in the province of Isernia in Molise. Ancient Samnite
city, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century was part of the
Giustizierato d'Abruzzo and Abruzzo Citra, in the district of
Lanciano.
It houses the Pontifical Marinelli bell foundry,
the oldest plant in the world for the casting of bells, authorized
to use the papal coat of arms and founded around the year 1000. As a
tourist resort it has obtained important awards for its
environmental quality.
Tradition has it that Agnone was built on
the ruins of the Samnite city Aquilonia destroyed by the Romans
during the conquest of the Sannio: in the area various
archaeological finds have been recovered, such as the funerary stele
of Vibia Bonitas, preserved at the Italo Argentino Theater, in the
historic center of the town .
An important center during the
Lombard domination, it then decayed in the centuries immediately
preceding 1000, while the Verrino Valley and the surrounding hills
became the site of hermitages, small monasteries and small
agricultural colonies.
County of Borrello
At the end of the 11th century, Anglone appears among the main
castles (over fifty) that made up the Terra Borellense, that is, the
vast feud of the Borrello family, located between southern Abruzzo
and northern Molise.
In 1139 the powerful Borrello family,
counts of Pietrabbondante and captains of fortune of Venice, brought
to the place a considerable number of Venetian soldiers and
craftsmen, probably coming from the Dalmatian colonies of the
"Serenissima" (the Venetian writer Alvise Zorzi suggests the
provenance of this group from the Venetian colonies of Puglia, but
the comparison remains impossible due to the absence of documents
and the question remains doubtful). However, the Venetian foundation
of the town itself - built on the arched hill facing Monte Saraceno
- is evident due to the clear signs of Venetian culture that can be
observed in the original district, that of Ripa, otherwise known as
the "Venetian village".
Domination of the Angevins and
Aragonese
The importance of Agnone grew in the Angevin period and
also in the Aragonese one, to the point that during the Bourbon
reign of the Two Sicilies, the city was among the 56 royal cities,
directly dependent on the King, free from any other feudal
subjection, with a high court, with the right to impose capital
punishment.
Government of Joachim Murat
Having always belonged to the Abruzzo Hither, when King Giuseppe
Bonaparte (Napoleon's brother) decided to create the new province of
Molise (1806), Agnone was left in Abruzzo. But during the reign of
Joachim Murat, the local elders asked for and obtained the passage
to Molise, basing the request on the geographical difficulty of the
Abruzzo connections, and hoping to rise to a dominant role in the
new province (1811). The first disappointment hit the Agnonesi
immediately after this passage, since the three districts into which
Molise was divided had Larino, Campobasso and Isernia as centers and
capitals, excluding Agnone from any role of administrative
prominence. Nevertheless, flourishing in terms of the breadth of the
countryside and for the number and volume of artisan enterprises,
Agnone was able to develop, during the 19th century, a large number
of cultured minds: doctors, philosophers, jurists, theologians, from
which the honorific name of "Athens of Sannio".
From the
nineteenth to the twentieth century
The price revolution linked
to the early development of Italian industry in the late nineteenth
century, however, undermined this balance, giving way to the
phenomenon of emigration. Despite this, Agnone stood out for the
spirit of economic and cultural initiative. For example, in full
positivist spirit, thanks to the action of some enlightened spirits
including Dr. Giuseppe Maria d'Onofrio, Agnone managed to be
electrified well before Rome. In fact, the inauguration of the
Verrino hydroelectric plant, managed by the electric company of the
same name, dates back to 1905, which preceded the first power plant
in Rome, the Montemartini plant, by 8 years.
During the Fascist regime, Agnone was the place of confinement for
numerous opponents of the regime, including Don Raimondo Viale,
protagonist of "Il prete proprio" by Nuto Revelli.
From July
1940, near Agnone, a concentration camp was built for Jews,
opponents of the regime and mainly Roma, rounded up throughout Italy
and in the area of ex-Yugoslavia. For this purpose, the local
prefect chose and obtained from the bishop of the time the
concession of the convent of San Bernardino. After 8 September the
camp was opened and the interned people were freed.
1950s and
contemporary period
The last demographic growth, Agnone had in the forties, and then undergo a continuous decrease from the fifties to today. At the same time - and paradoxically - the town saw the signs of a possible socio-economic development, such as the birth of the local civil hospital and high schools, including the scientific high school (first in the province of Campobasso), the Leonida Marinelli technical institute, the professional institute. It should also be mentioned - in the first post-war period - the birth of the Italo Argentino theater (founded thanks to the contributions of the Agnonesi d'Argentina) which was for a long time one of the largest in Abruzzo-Molise, and returned to being so in March 2008 for the closure of some large theaters of the two regions.
Agnone is located in the upper Molise, north-east of the province of Isernia and on the border with Abruzzo (province of Chieti). It is located at an altitude of 830 m above sea level, surrounded by a mountainous landscape covered with woods and grasslands.
The town, located at 830 meters, enjoys a moderately cool climate; winters are harsh and characterized by heavy rains and snowfalls, while summers are pleasant, with some stormy episodes and a few hot days.