Venafro is home to one of the most beautiful castles in Molise, the Pandone Castle, so named because in 1443 it was donated to the Pandone family by the Aragonese kings. The most famous of the family, Count Enrico Pandone, took possession of the castle in the early 1500s and transformed it into a beautiful stately residence.
Enrico Pandone was one of the most important horse breeders in the Kingdom of Naples; one of his horses was even given to Emperor Charles V. This horse, "lo liardo San George," is depicted, in all its splendor, along with 25 other stablemates on the walls of the castle’s main floor.
This "gallery" of nearly life-size horses, stuccoed and frescoed by an Iberian-Flemish workshop, is unique. The horses are depicted with their owner’s mark (the H for Henricus), saddles, harnesses, and for each one the name, breed, age, coat color, and a particularity of their character or to whom they were donated are indicated, valuable pointers for Renaissance cavalry enthusiasts and scholars. Not only horses, but also graffiti with sketches, mottos and dedications can be read on the 16th-century plasterwork of the main floors.
THE PANDONE CASTLE NATIONAL MUSEUM
Since December 18, 2012, in addition to its beautiful frescoes, the castle has also been home to Molise’s first national museum: the Castello Pandone National Museum, where the most important Molise paintings are on display, from the oldest to those of Molise painters working in Naples or who came to Molise from the capital of the Kingdom of Naples during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The museum also houses numerous loans from the most important national museums in Naples, Caserta, and Rome and the very famous 15th-century alabaster polyptych from Nottingham, England.
In short, a castle not to be missed for those who happen to visit the town of Venafro, which is also famous for its Roman-era relics, churches, the Regional Olive Park, and delicious olive oil taralli
