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The Terra Vecchia section of Bonefro dates back at least 1,000 years (See  Origins). This was the Bonefro of the Middle ages:  A circular encampment protected by hillsides, a wall and a mighty Lombard period (555-1070 a.d.) fortress.  Inside, twisting passageways wind through the town. The wall’s gate (Porta Molino) entered onto the original town square, located in the center of the residences near Vico Gaifo.  As the population grew, the town began to expand outside the wall (into “the borgo”).  By 1617, at least 80 people lived outside the walls of Terra Vecchia.  More gates (four in total) were added to accommodate the foot traffic.  
 
                      




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 Porta Molino


















Porta Molino is probably the oldest of the four portals.  In recent years, the original wooden beams were replaced with concrete. According to oral tradition, the original town piazza was located across from Porta Molino, near Vico Gaifo.







                                                                                                                  
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Spanish documents recorded the castle as early as 1531, one stating, “there is a beautiful castle with four towers…”  However, the castle was probably constructed much earlier, during the Lombard period (555 AD -1070 AD). 










All the towers were refaced (almost certainly in the fifthteenth century when it was transformed from a fortress to the baronial residence). However, three towers remain.  Those on the East and North sides show Romanesque characteristics from the Norman period (1070-1200).  The fourth tower, collapsed in 1888, had been almost completely cylindrical and smaller than the others. 

A sketch and 19th century photograph indicate the existence of another (fifth) tower detached from the castle and octagon in shape, probably built during the Swabian period (1200-1265) as a look-out tower.




                                                                                                         

(Closed for restoration since the 2002 earthquake)

The Mother Church, or main church of the parish, Santa Maria delle Rose was documented in 1614, but is believed to have existed much earlier.

The church is built in a quadrilateral plan.  The central nave is 22 x 7 meters (72 x 23 feet).  One side nave is 17 x 7 meters (56 x 23 feet), the other 17 x 8 meters (56 x 26 feet).  The imbalance occurs where the side of the church meets the castle walls.  Also, having been built on a hillside caused the floor to be lower in the center.


External fascia was almost completely restored in 1853 except for the 1748 main door.  The church was renovated many times, masking the original design.  However, during the 1960-1966 restoration, some original elements were uncovered.  The original Romanesque design indicates construction during the Norman period.

After the French Revolution, republicanism became an ideal supported mainly by anti-Papal aristocracy in the Kingdom Naples (to which Bonefro belonged). When an uprising of pro-French republicans ousted King Ferdinand IV of Naples, Napoleon Bonaparte entered with the French Army and declared “the Partenopea Republic” on January 23, 1799.   He sent troops throughout the former Kingdom to maintain order and prevent civil war.  French soldiers in Bonefro planted a “tree of liberty” on the church grounds (now paved), as a symbol of French Republicanism. Bonefro peasant Nicola Spada uprooted the tree in protest.  He was arrested and immediately brought to trial by the French High Military Commission in Campobasso.  There, he was executed on March 18, 1799.  Three months later, Ferdinand IV returned to the throne. 







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Monumento dei Caduti
Delle Guerre,
War Memorial

The town inaugurated the original war monument on November 1, 1921 as a memorial to the sons of Bonefro who gave their lives in World War One.  The memorial was funded with private donations, including a large part from Bonefrani who had emigrated to the USA and Canada.  Contact us to see if one of your relatives is on the list of donors.  Because the statue and balustrades were made of bronze,  the Italian government requisitioned the monument in 1942 to support the war effort.

The town erected the replacement that stands today, on November 4, 1951—this time, made of marble.  Antonio Giordano of nearby Santa Croce di Magliano sculpted the monument, which carries the names of soldiers who fell in Africa, Spain and the Second World War.











Next to the memorial for the fallen soldiers is another for civilian casualties of the war, including four children killed when an ordnance they found exploded.















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Chiesa di San Francesco

The Church of Saint Francis was incorporated into the Convento Santa Maria delle Grazie.  It consisted of a single large nave and a sacristy.  Original altars included:

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Cemeteries

Before the early 1800s, the dead were interred in and around local churches rather than in a separate cemetery.  For instance, they were buried under the floors of Chiesa San Nicola, and Chiesa Santa Maria delle Rose and in its bell tower.  There was a burial plot next to the Mother Church, where the base of the bell tower now stands.

Maucieri Building

In 1925, emigrant Giovanbattista
(James) Maucieri returned to Bonefro from America to visit his ailing mother.  He donated 150,000 lire to construct a hospital for citizens of Bonefro and surrounding areas recovering from illness.  Construction began in 1927, in the Pagliarella neighborhood.









Construction was completed in 1929, but the building did not open as a hospital; instead, it was abandoned.  Eventually, Don Domenico Giannotti wrote to Maucieri, asking permission to use the building as an asilo (kindergarten) and school for female workers.  More construction started, this time with the consent of all the citizens.  The building opened as “Asilo Infantile Giuseppina Maucieri” (for the patron’s mother) in February 1935.  In 1943, it housed war orphans.  Soon, the town plans to re-open the Ethnographic Museum in the building.

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La Fontana
della Terra

Because public contributions funded this fountain, it was named “of the terra, of the people.”  It has also been called La Fontana della Conceria (Tannery), from its position beside the tannery garden, and as La Fontana della Salute (Health), because the water has less than 5 percent saline and so mothers used it to wash the eyes of children with styes.


Constructed in 1771, the fountain has six apertures.  At the top is a bust of San Nicola di Bari (the town’s patron saint).  At high center is inscribed in Latin the names of primary contributors:  Emilio Fantetti (medical doctor); Raimundo Rossi (landowner); Gennaro Colabella (public hygiene superintendent); and Rocco Blanco.  Arcangelo Fagnano restored the fountain in 1816. 

Several 19th century brigands met execution at the fountain grounds.  However, today's amphitheater-like setting hosts public activities such as the summer Bonefro Rock concerts.

                                                                                                       
















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Don't miss the Pino Perrotta Showcase for artistic photos of Bonefro and other Molise towns!