“Molise is among the most secret, profound, and least known regions of our country.” Thus began the account of his journey to Molise (1956) by the writer and journalist Guido Piovene in Viaggio in Italia, the most celebrated literary guide to Italy in the postwar period.

Wonderful words about our beautiful Molise, filled with poetry. A land of romantic charm that “strangely recalls certain areas of Northern Europe, for example in Scotland and Ireland. This southern land could be the backdrop for a tragedy like Macbeth.”

Superb words to describe the charm of the Roman city of Saepinum, “the most romantic ruins in Italy,” and the character of the Molise people, “shy and proud at the same time, full of self-respect even in poverty.”

Listen to this excerpt from Viaggio in Italia: Molise, from the 1956 radio broadcast available online in the Rai archives. You won’t regret it!