Fortifications
Defences
along the river courses
The river valleys of
Molise have always been the favourite routes for East-West penetration; these
same valleys, though subject to geological instability, are now traversed by
fast highways. Riverside roads represent the backbone of a larger network formed
by intersecting thoroughfares: sheep-tracks and roads connecting towns and
villages on the mountains or at the bottom of the valleys. Remains of bridges,
or simply toponyms of erections that no longer exist, but also traces of fords,
testify to a much richer system of roads that has all but disappeared. The
mouths of rivers were areas of great economic interest for agricultural
activities and because they constituted embarkation points; the mouth of the
Fortore, for example, had a “caricatoio di grano con alcuni pochi magazzini”
(Galanti, 1790). Control of the river courses required the construction and
management of a system of coastal towers connected visually with each other and
with towns located upstream. Their existence is testified by significant case
histories, though often the old fortifications were incorporated in more recent
settlements, at times with the function of dovecote tower. The valley of the
river Trigno was controlled, on the seacoast, by the Celenza tower, and, along
its course, by turrets serving as guardrooms. A number of towers survive along
the river Biferno, usually located at mid-slope a short distance from the river,
often next to the roads that led down to the river, near fords or the large
number of “scafe”.
|
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Morrone |
|
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Morrone |
|
 |
Castellerce |
|
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Celenza |
