The Piazza in Sepino, Italy

For a little more than a week we have stayed in Sepino, Italy, a small village, nestled among the picturesque mountains of the Molise region. in order to complete some documentation and paperwork for our Italian Dual Citizenship. We are glad that Sepino is one of the many towns that works closely with Italy Mondo to help streamline the Citizenship process, as Sepino is a hidden gem. (New post on Italian Citizenship to come)

This village has roughly 2000 inhabitants and dates back over 3000 years according to the Mayor, Mena Zeoli. Sepino was recently added as one of 208 villages to the I Borghi piú Belli d’Italia (The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy) and we can understand why.

All of the “streets” were a maze of corridors and passageways like this. | Passageway walking down to our house. It was 122 steps from the Piazza! | Stream and Waterfall Running through the Village

The Medieval town is situated on the side of a mountain and is comprised of winding corridors and narrow passageways made up of thousands of steps. It makes you feel as if you’ve gone back in time. We loved walking the streets to visit the local market, butcher, baker, and stopping the local fruit trucks.

A short walk down into the valley is the ancient Roman city of Saepinum. Saepinum was the original settlement of the Samnites Pentri, but it was eventually taken over by the Romans. The original settlement of 12,000 square meters (about 3 acres) is very well preserved. What a find, because we were one of two tourists out viewing the entire complex. Almost all of the walls are still standing and the four gates to enter the city still exist with incredible detail.

Overhead View of the Ancient Roman City of Saepinum with a close up of the original Theatre

The Theatre stands as if it was captured in time and Stella and Romolo gave amazing performances on the original Roman stage. One of the most interesting points is that inside the ancient city there are still cattle and sheep herders living there in homes that were built in the 17th and 18th Century. Many of the homes were built on top of the Roman ruins because of how well constructed the foundations and other supports were. It is amazing how the Romans truly built things to last! Here is a link to the history of Saepinum.

As much as we loved the beauty of the town and all of its history, it was the people of Sepino that really made the village welcoming and warm.

View from our apartment: Rainbow falling on the convent and olive grove in the distance!