Vastogirardi - Italy

Vastogirardi (IS)

Molise (Italy)

Important historical sites, significant landscapes and natural resources make Vastogirardi one of the villages of the Upper Molise with more attractions for the visitor.
It grows in the shelter of a hill whose summit is the castle, and the whole Church of St. Nicholas of Bari.
Inside the walls is the village, which is well preserved in the original function of defense, as evidenced by the cylindrical towers embedded in the factories.
The origin of the town dates back to 1100-1200 when there was the foundation of the castle, which is a fortified courtyard with a central square and around the houses.
In the middle dominates the Church of St. Nicholas of Bari, the patron saint of the village.
The result of successive enlargements, the churches of San Rocco and Santa Maria delle Grazie, were built in the early eighteenth century and incorporated in the third urban extension dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
It is assumed that the name of Vastogirardi, comes from Captain Crusader Just Girardi.
In the past, he also assumed the name of Castrum Girardi, Castel Girardo, Guasti Belardi, Rocca Girardo, up to the current name.
The planning has to be wound around the fortress and the village runs between stone corners, streets, portals, keystones carved with dates and figures.
Among the buildings should be mentioned: The Selvaggi Palace, built in 1714 by Fernando Fuga, a pupil of Vanvitelli, and the Palace Marracino.
The nature of Vastogirardi is particularly lush forests, springs and reserves, among which is of considerable interest to the Reserve MAB (Man and Biosphere) of Montedimezzo, protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, due to its high natural value.
In the forest of St. Nicholas, just outside the reserve Montedimezzo, stands with his magnificent head of hair, the King Fajone, a centuries-old beech tree.
In the village Sant'Angelo, near a copious spring of Trigno, is that in the past has been an important place of worship, in fact the site are the remains of two superimposed buildings: a Italic temple of the second century BC and a Church of the Middle Ages.