The ruins of Rocchetta Alta dominate the remote valley of the Volturno River in the Appennine region of Molise, in central Italy. The original medieval settlement gathered around the impressively positioned Battiloro Castle, which was built to protect the nearby Benedictine Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno and initially owned by the Pandone family. Its misfortunes began as a result of intensive deforestation, which caused a number of landslides from the 1800s onwards. The landslides forced the inhabitants to migrate to a safer site just below the old medieval town, where…
