Italy, Settefrati

The town is located in the beautiful Val Comino, and its name is derived from the Seven Saint Brothers, children of Santa Felicita, martyred with their mother during the persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire. The village was formed in the Middle Ages and the Settefrati castle is recorded in a document from 991 in the Abbey of Montecassino of which it was among the possessions and consequently followed the fate of the nearby Alvito. Among the many families who ruled over the centuries included the D'aquino, the Cantelmos, the Navarro and the Gallio, who held it until the end of the eighteenth century when it entered the Bourbon Kingdom. After the unification of Italy it experienced the phenomenon of banditry and was the refuge of the brigand Centrillo. The architectural heritage has been heavily damaged by the earthquakes of 1915 and 1984 and by bombing during the Second World War. It has given birth to Alberico monk, a mystic who lived in the twelfth century and in 1127 he transcribed on parchment his visions of hell, purgatory and paradise. According to some scholars, his writings provided a cue for Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.