Molise small, smaller and smaller

This week I have been exploring more of the villages around Molise, and it still saddens me to see their obvious decline.

However, at least with this project it will at least put them on the map and allow more people to discover just what Molise is hiding from the world.
Yesterday, I visited the tiny hamlet of Molise in Molise. Quite sweet really that such a tiny little place sitting proudly on the hillside a few miles from the regional city of Campobasso, holds the key to the region.
I have yet to discover anything much about it, apart from one line on Wikipedia which clearly indicates how it's population has declined quite dramatically over the last thirty years to less than 150 people.
I am interested to know why such a tiny little place took the name of the region, when I find out I will let you know.
There is a large virtually derelict Palazzo. or palace in the centre of the village which was obviously a place of importance. Now it still dominates the main street on top of the hill, but only a small part of it has been restored.
There is a lovely old stone postbox on the wall which has been cemented up.
 I have seen these letterboxes in a few villages now. Of course, letter boxes in a wall or door are a very rare occurrence

in Italy now as most people actually have a post box on the wall beside their door, on even by the gate outside their property, or in my case at the bottom of the track on the main road. The postman asked me to put a letter box up when I  moved here, and I had to collect my mail from the Post Office until  I go round to it.

There are one hundred and thirty-eight towns, villages and hamlets in Molise. In each one of them,  the population is declining, as the younger people move away because there is very little work, their grandparents often stay behind in the villages, congregating as they have always done to natter at the local bar, or in the village piazza.Many families choose to move to apartments in the larger towns because they are often cheaper to run than drafty village houses. The houses are often kept, along with the land, then used when the olives are ready to harvest or the tomatoes ripe enough to make passata.

This week I visited Torella Del Sannio,

The castle can be seen sitting proudly above the town, wiith it's conical turreted towers commanding a magnificent view of the valley below.

You can still visit the castle today if you wish, you just have to contact them, and you can arrange to be shown round. It is really quite magnificent to visit a castle that is still lived in, rather than just wander amidst crumbling walls and lofty towers.
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/Castelloditorelladelsannio/

Elena Ciamarra was an artist and composer who lived in the castle, and her family still live there today. Her music is still apparently heard hauntingly occasionally drifting on the breeze as it carries across the village forth from within the walls on a summer's evening.

I have yet to discover more about this fascinating medieval castle and uncover it's secrets hidden for so many years like Elena's paintings which although they display some incredible talent have remained largely undiscovered, even today.

Torella del Sannio too has a number of empty, ramshackle houses which are greatly in need of renovation.  There are some that have been lovingly restored and more will hopefully follow suit.

You can even buy a wing of the castle if you have a few hundred thousand Euros to spare.

Last week I explored some of the old houses in the village, discovering all kinds of interesting nooks and crannies.

Many still have pans sitting in the hearth and wicker chairs standing in the corner, yet it is only spiders who now spin their webs in the rotting rafters

So much more to say and to write about but that is all for today.