Bojano

Infobox CityIT
img_coa =Bojano-Stemma.png official_name = Comune di Bojano
region = Molise
province = Campobasso (CB)
elevation_m =480
area_total_km2 = 49

---

population_as_of = 2004-12-31
population_total = 8273
population_density_km2 =170
mapx=41.4895|mapy=14.468|name=Bojano
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|41|29|N|14|28|E|display=inline,title
frazioni = see list
telephone = 0874
postalcode = 86021
gentilic = Bojanesi
saint = St. Bartholomew
day = August 25
mayor =
website = [http://www.comune.bojano.cb.it/ www.comune.bojano.cb.it]

Bojano or Boiano is a town and "comune" in the province of Campobasso, Molise, south central Italy.

History

Originally named Bovianum, it was settled by the 7th century BC. As the capital of the Pentri Samnites, it played a major role in the Samnite Wars, as well as in the Social War, when it was a temporary capital (93 BC). It was sacked by Sulla.

It was colonized under both the triumvirates, and by Vespasian, who settled veterans of Legio XI "Claudia" (whence the name "Bovianum Undecumanorum"), and remained an important centre into late antiquity.

After the Lombard conquest, the deserted area was given to a group of Bulgars and became a seat of a gastaldate. After two centuries marked by Saracen attacks, in the mid-11th century it was conquered by the Hauteville Normans, becoming a fief of Raoul de Moulins, a companion to Robert Guiscard. The city became a county capital.

The city was destroyed by a long series of earthquakes, the last occurring in 1913.

Main sights

The remains of Cyclopean walls can be seen on the heights above the modern town. Other attractions include:
*The "Cathedral of St. Bartholomew" (11th century), several times damaged by earthquakes. The apse is still in Norman style.
*The church of "Sts. Erasmus and Marinus", with a noteworthy Gothic portal.
*The "Hermitage of St. Egidius", on a 1,025 m high mountain in the neighbourhood.
*The remains of the "Norman Castle".

History and Legends of Bojano

The Greek geographer Strabonium (Strabone), recounts how after a war between the Samnites and the Umbri (both an Italic people related by language and lineage), which was won by the Samnites, a Ver Sacrum (Sacred Spring) was held—a festival which is yearly re-created in Bojano—honouring the god Mamerte (corresponding to the Latin god Mars and the Greek god Ares). In the year following the war, the people held the first festival offering, the Ver Sacrum.

They offered the god the fruits of the earth and their domesticated animals and sent off small expeditions of their young people to colonise new areas. The group was led by a bull--an animal sacred to the god Mamerte. A Como (Comino) or Castronio headed the expedition. The expedition started out in the area of Rieti, known as the centre of Italy.

Strabonium writes how the bull stopped at the foot of a mountain called Samnium the place the people derived their name—the Samnites.Other versions of the story suggest the bull stopped to drink at the ford of the river Biferno and this is where the people built the city of Bovaianom (literally meaning Ox-ford) which is the Oscan name for the city.

It is interesting to note that in the Oscan language the word Samnium and the word Sabine were both represented by the name Safinum. The Matese area is one of the oldest inhabited areas of the planet. The first known people to settle here were the Osci or Opici. The Osci were were Indoeuropean people who intermarried with the later arriving Italic people (Umbri, Samnites, Pentri) in the VII Century BCE).

Fractions

Alifana, Campi Marzi, Castellone, Ciccagne, Chiovitti, Civita Superiore, Codacchio, Cucciolone, Fonte delle Felci, Imperato, Limpiilli, Majella, Malatesta, Monteverde, Pallotta, Pietre Cadute, Pinciere, Pitoscia, Pitti, Prusciello, Rio Freddo, Santa Maria dei Rivoli, Sant'Antonio Abate, Tilli Tilli.

References

* De Benedittis, G. "Bovianum ed il suo territorio" (1977)
* [http://www.comune.bojano.cb.it/ Official comune homepage]

[http://www.piazzaroma.net Piazzaroma.net Bojano's Community]