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00 Pizzone
Stemma di Pizzone

Molise · Isernia

Pizzone

A 313-person Mainarde village at 724 meters, above the Volturno springs.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 55 min from Naples
Population
313

Known for

  • PARK SECTOR

    Pizzone ceded four thousand hectares to the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise in 1990 to create the Mainarde sector.

  • MAINARDE

    Limestone range on the Abruzzo-Molise border, the geographic anchor of the village and the highest country in this corner of Molise.

  • PIANORO DELLE FORME

    Karst plateau on the commune's territory, a signature high meadow of the southern Apennines used for summer pasture.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J9°
  • F11°
  • M12°
  • A15°
  • M19°
  • J25°
  • J28°
  • A28°
  • S23°
  • O18°
  • N13°
  • D10°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Pizzone sits at 724 meters on the eastern flank of the range that closes the northern edge of Molise against the Abruzzo border. In 1990 the commune ceded part of its territory to the national park, together with Castel San Vincenzo, Rocchetta a Volturno, Filignano and Scapoli, adding high pasture and beech forest to what became the Mainarde sector. The karst plateau on Pizzone's own territory is one of the signature high meadows of the southern Apennines.

The Volturno springs at the foot of the range and the Rio Jemmare that crosses Pizzone feed the lake just below the village. The village itself is small, stone houses set on a ridge under the peaks, with the church at its centre. A few kilometers north stands the abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno. Pizzone reads as a mountain edge settlement: its territory gave ground to the park and kept the high meadow, while the water descending from its slopes shapes the lake and the abbey site below.

The Sunday letter

Pizzone is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Pizzone comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.

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Read on

Pizzone in our articles

How to get there

From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 51m by car.

Rome (FCO) is about 3h 10m away.

By car from the centre of Naples 2 hours, Salerno 2h 20m or Pescara 2h 27m.

Every town within reach of Naples / Salerno airport.

Pizzone, photo 1
Pizzone, photo 2

What to see

  • Mainarde

    Limestone mountain range on the Abruzzo-Molise border, the Molise sector of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise.

  • Pianoro delle Forme

    Karst high meadow on Pizzone's territory, one of the signature plateaus of the southern Apennines and a summer pasture for grazing flocks.

  • Lago di Castel San Vincenzo

    Turquoise artificial lake at the foot of the range, four kilometers downhill from the village.

  • Chiesa di San Marco Evangelista

    Stone façade and bell tower on the ridge, the parish that anchors daily life for the village's residents.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Pizzone fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Living here

  • Population 313, down 11.8% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
  • Remotei
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Nearest public hospital Castel di Sangro, 15 km as the crow flies
  • Full fibre reaches 79% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 51 min drive
  • Regional capital Campobasso, 1 h 31 min drive

Could you live here?

Pizzone is at the end of the road.

  • A village of 313. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Castel di Sangro, is 42 minutes away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
  • Isernia, a city of 20,617, is 42 minutes by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.

The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.

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Common questions

What is Pizzone known for?
Pizzone is a 313-person Mainarde village at 724 meters, above the Volturno springs.
Where is Pizzone?
Pizzone is a comune in the province of Isernia, in Molise.
What is the nearest airport to Pizzone?
Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 1h 51m by car.
How long is the drive from Naples to Pizzone?
About 2 hours by car.
When is the best time to visit Pizzone?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
Which other towns are like Pizzone?
Castel San Vincenzo, Celle di San Vito and Faeto.
How many people live in Pizzone?
313 at the 2023 count.
Is Pizzone a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Pizzone is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Castel di Sangro, is 42 minutes away. The nearest city, Isernia, is 42 minutes away by car. The nearest public hospital is in Castel di Sangro, 15 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 79% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 724 m
  • Population: 313
  • Surface area: 33.49 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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