Molise Culture & Language

For a region this small, Molise holds an unusual amount, largely because isolation preserved it.

Minority languages

Two communities stand out. Several villages are Arbëresh — descended from Albanians who fled Ottoman expansion in the 15th century and still speaking a form of Albanian.

Rarer still, three villages — Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro and San Felice del Molise — speak Molise Croatian, known locally as na-našu, "our way". Their ancestors crossed the Adriatic in the 16th century, and this is the only surviving Slavic language island in Italy, with perhaps a thousand speakers left.

The zampogna

Scapoli is the centre of Italian bagpipe making. The zampogna, a double-chantered pipe played with the shawm-like ciaramella, is a shepherd's instrument associated with Christmas. The village has a museum and holds an international festival each July.

Festivals

• The Misteri of Campobasso, at Corpus Domini, carries eighteenth-century wrought-iron ingegni through the streets, with children and adults in costume apparently floating in mid-air. The frames were designed by Paolo Saverio Di Zinno in the 1740s and are still in use.
• The 'Ndocciata at Agnone, on 8 and 24 December, is a procession of hundreds of fan-shaped fir torches, some carried by several men at once — one of the largest fire rituals in Europe.
• Carresi — ox-cart races at San Martino in Pensilis, Ururi and Portocannone, fiercely contested and centuries old.
• Transhumance re-enactments in spring move real flocks along the tratturi.

Craft

The Marinelli foundry at Agnone has cast church bells since around the year 1000 and is among the oldest family firms in the world, holding the right to use the papal coat of arms. Agnone also has a copper-working tradition, and Molise produces handmade lace and wrought iron.

Italian is universal. English is spoken in Termoli's hotels and very little elsewhere — this is one of the parts of Italy where a few phrases make a real difference.

• Buongiorno / buonasera — on entering any shop or bar.
• Per favore, grazie, prego.
• È aperto? — is it open? The single most useful phrase in a region where opening hours are informal.
• Vorrei prenotare per stasera — I'd like to book for this evening. Village restaurants often need notice.
• Il conto, per favore — the bill, not brought unasked.

Two minority languages survive here and are worth knowing about. Several villages speak Arbëresh, an Albanian variety brought in the 15th century. Three — Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro and San Felice del Molise — speak Molise Croatian, the only Slavic language island in Italy, with signage in both languages. Neither is expected of a visitor, but both are a living part of local identity rather than a curiosity.