Fornelli

Fornelli is a hill town in the province of Isernia, Molise, overlooking the Volturno Valley, and is recognized as one of "I Borghi più belli d'Italia" (the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy). It has documented origins going back to the year 981, when it was recorded in a judicial dispute as a castellum serving the Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno; the earliest defensive structures predate the year 1000, when the settlement served as an agricultural outpost of the Benedictine monks of that abbey. In the 12th century, the monks ceded the territory to the Normans, who built a fortress and strengthened the town walls. Fornelli is known as the "Town of Seven Towers": the Norman and Angevin-era defensive walls incorporated seven towers, two of which are now part of the castle, four absorbed into private homes, and one standing as the principal tower opening onto the historic center. The town retains one of the best-preserved medieval wall circuits in Molise, enclosing a compact core of narrow alleys, arches, and stairways.

The historic center is enclosed within intact medieval walls and is compact, with narrow alleys, arches, and stairways best explored on foot.

• The Seven Towers and medieval walls — one of the best-preserved medieval wall circuits in Molise, dating to the Norman and Angevin periods.
• The Mother Church and the historic Palace — part of the town's oldest urban core alongside the Seven Towers.

Isernia, the provincial capital, is the nearest larger town in the area.