Monte Acero is a mountain of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

situated in the Telesina Valley and shared by the municipalities of

San Salvatore Telesino San Salvatore Telesino (Campanian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about northwest of Benevento. San Salvatore Telesino borders the following mu ...

and

Faicchio Faicchio is a small village in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 50 km northeast of Naples and about 30 km northwest of Benevento. Faicchio borders the following villages: Cusano Mutri, Gioia Sann ...

, next to the Monaco di Gioia and its peaks, which are offshoots of the Matese mountains.

Megalithic walls

The summit of the mountain is surrounded by roughly three kilometres of megalithic walls from the era of the Oscan

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...

(6th century B.C.) who constructed the so-called 'Monte Acero stronghold', a fortress that was used by the Samnites as an important lookout post. The walls are constituted of large, dry-laid stone boulders. The most well-preserved part runs along the southern part of the mountain away from the paths. There are two openings that have been identified as original: one to the south, facing

Telesia Telese Terme, called simply Telese until 1991, is a city, ''comune'' (municipality) and former episcopal seat in the Province of Benevento, in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is located in the valley of the Calore, well known for its sulfu ...

, and another to the north. The shape of the stone blocks tends to be rectangular and the space that is formed between the various blocks is filled with stones. The average height is 3.5 metres.

Monument to Christ the Redeemer

On the eastern peak of the mountain stands the cast-iron statue of Christ the Redeemer, placed on top of a quadrangular pyramidal base made of ashlar with a narrow chapel inside. The monument was erected in 1902 alongside a further nineteen statues of Christ commissioned by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

to celebrate the new century and were designed by the Rosa Zanazio company in Rome. At the time, it cost around 4,000 lire, which came from donations from across the diocese. At the same time as the erection of the monument, the committee proposed the construction of a house at the foot of the mountain as a shelter for tuberculosis patients, but nothing was done due to lack of funds. The current structure was restored in the 1970s at the expense of Emilio Bove after a storm caused the statue to collapse. Early in the morning on the first Sunday of August each year, a pilgrimage takes place from

Cerreto Sannita Cerreto Sannita (; nap, label=Campanian, Cerrìte ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 60 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km northwest of Benevento. Cerreto San ...

to remember the erection of the monument.

References

* Acer, periodico della Pro Loco Massa di Faicchio, anno I n. 3, Novembre 2002. * ANCeSCAO Sez. di Cerreto Sannita, La Valle del Titerno, ANCESCAO, 2009. * AA.VV., Sentieri del Parco Regionale del Matese, Terenzi, 2003. * Flavio Russo, Dai Sanniti all'Esercito Italiano: La Regione Fortificata del Matese, Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Esercito, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Acero Mountains of Campania