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CAMPOBASSO |
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Home of a top-security prison and the National Carabinieri School,
CAMPOBASSO , the regional capital, is about as appealing as you'd expect
- a modern, rather faceless town that was once known for its cutlery
industry. It's a good base, though, for the remarkable ruins at Saepinum
, and if you're around in early June, its Corpus Christi Sagra dei
Misteri procession is a spectacular event. Citizens are dressed as
saints, angels and devils, inserted into fantastical contraptions and
transported, seemingly suspended in midair, through the streets.
At any other time of the year the most notable attraction is the new
Samnite Museum (summer daily 8.30am-7.30pm; winter Tues-Sun 9am-1pm &
3-7pm; free; tel 0874.412.265) at Via Chiarizia 12, with statues and
archeological finds from the area. Steep alleys of the small, old upper
town lead up to a couple of Romanesque churches - San Bartolomeo , which
has eerily contorted figures carved around its main door, and San
Giorgio , whose entrance displays a dragon surrounded by stylized
flowers. The views at least are extensive, though they consist mostly of
Campobasso's suburban sprawl. And there's little point carrying on up
the hill to the monastery and sixteenth-century castle: the monastery is
modern, and the castle now a weather station.
Should you need to sleep over, the nicest, most central hotel is the
Skandeberg , near the station and museum at Via Novelli 31 (tel
0874.413.341; L120,000-150,000/61.98-77.47), or there's the Tricolore ,
outside the centre on the road to Térmoli (tel 0874.63.190;
L60,000-90,000/30.99-46.48). The tourist office (Mon-Sat 8.30am-1.30pm;
tel 0874.415.662) on Piazza Vittoria in the new town has details of
local events and bus routes to elsewhere in the province.
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