The old town city center of Campobasso has lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore.  Narrow cobblestone streets curve out of sight, inviting you to walk just a little bit further to see what’s around the curve.  The old town is located around the base of a mountain, so sometimes the “street” goes up an incline via steps instead of what you would think as a drivable street.

Catty-corner from the osteria where we had dinner the first night, there is a small plaza called Largo di Leonardo which is named after the Chiesa di San Leonardo which fronts the plaza.  When traveling in Europe, we have a rule that we always have to pop into a church when we pass by, and this church did not disappoint.

Next to the church was a grand set of stairs, and we said to ourselves, “Huh, I wonder where those steps go.”  So we started going up.  And up.  And up.  We eventually found ourselves at the top of the mountain, passing narrow houses all along the way.

There are some interesting structures at the top of the mountain.  The first thing you see when you crest the hill is an old defense tower. 

Next to the tower is La Chiesa di San Bartolomeo, built in the 13th century in the Romanesque style.  The Romanesque period predates the Renaissance and the Gothic style, and the architecture is much simpler.

Going up a few more steps on the path, you come to La Chiesa di San Giorgio, a Romanesque church which was also built in the 13th century.  (I haven’t figured out why two churches were built at the same time right next to each other.)  The interior of this church was renovated a couple of decades ago, and you can see how it looks much different than the San Bartolomeo church.  It has new plaster on the walls and ceilings as well as added decorative elements.

 

Leaving the San Giorgio church, you go up a tree-line lane to the very top of the mountain.  The pine trees along the lane are each dedicated to a different soldier (presumably a local man) who died in WWI.  Each tree also has a tag with a QR code that is used by some entity (regional or federal government?) to track data about that particular tree.

At the top, you first see an old monastery.  Then you curve around and see the modern addition to the building which is still a working monastery.

Finally, across a small plaza is the castle.  The castle isn’t open to the public because – ta-da! – it is now used as a weather station administered by the national army. 

Our guidebooks poo-poo’d the notion of hiking up the mountain to the castle, saying that it is better viewed from afar.  Whatever!  The hike was fun, not knowing exactly where all of those steps would lead, and the views from the top of the mountain were wonderful. 

Plus, on the way down, we popped into a restaurant for lunch and had a delicious meal that we would have missed if we hadn’t decided to hike up the hill.