August 12th, 2018 - Despite the early hour, Marco is already up. The B&B owner kindly woke up early to prepare my breakfast. Today, I feel particularly lucky. While chatting with him, I lose track of the time spent sitting on the breakfast table. I have the feeling that I will depart later than usual today, but I'm not too worried. The route shouldn't be too challenging, with practically no elevation changes and a beautiful sunny weather. I think I'll take it easy today to balance out yesterday's efforts.

After a leisurely breakfast, I put on my backpack and head out. The town of Bojano is already awake. I need to cross the entire town to resume my route. Just outside the town, I come across the springer of the Biferno River and I recall crossing it during my trip from Castel di Sangro to Lucera, last year. Despite the drought of that year, it still had a good flow. I suppose that the watercourse will carry even more water downstream this year.

I continue on the asphalt for a while, then take a dirt road, and finally, the tratturo, which is wider than usual. In the initial stretch, it is 111 meters wide and it's impressive. Then the width reduces to 55 meters... and it's still impressive! It's so big that an airstrip has been built on it.

The today's section of the tratturo underwent renovation works around the year 2000. Several masonry gazebos were built at regular intervals, many of which also have a fountain for water supply. From 2000 to now, they probably haven't been maintained, but all things considered, they're in good condition. For once, the work was done properly and has withstood the years and vandalism. Yes, vandalism, because evidently some people can't help but damage public property for no reason. Anyway, as I was saying, the structures are solid, so there isn't much work to be done. Mostly, there's a need for some cleaning because there's really everything around the gazebos.

By lunchtime, I arrive at the destination I had aimed for since the beginning of the journey: Saepimun, the ancient Roman city exactly located along the axis of the tratturo. I enter through the Bovinarum gate (Porta Bojano) and the view on the decumanus is spectacular: in rapid succession, you encounter the macellum, the basilica, the forum. Above all, what stands out most vividly in my memory is the theater. The lower cavea is completely surrounded by medieval rural dwellings, built using the structures of the upper cavea. Despite the fact that the nature of the place has been altered by the presence of the houses, I must say that the theater, even in its current form, has its own particular charm: look at the photos to judge. As I prepare to leave the remains of the splendid city, I hear someone  complaining about the state of maintenance of the site. I look around surprised: I rarely visit archaeological sites that are so well maintained.

I don't remember much about the rest of the journey, which continues without a hitch to the destination: I must have spent all the time thinking about what I had seen.

The B&B where I stay is outside the town of Sepino (the modern one). It is an ancient farmhouse with a long history behind it, which Antonio and Carmencita have renovated to make it their own home. It is a good example of conservative restoration and... well, it's worth seeing! In the evening, Antonio drives me to the town for dinner and, in the meantime, he tells me the history of the surrounding places. He is an endless source of information and I listen to him with pleasure: it is rare to meet people with such attachment to their own territory.

Track of the day