The Marinelli Pontifical Bell Foundry is an Italian family-run metallurgical company based in Agnone, in the province of Isernia, specializing in the construction of bells. Owned by the Marinelli family, who have managed it for many generations, it stands out for being the oldest Italian foundry and one of the oldest family companies in the world. It is very visited by many schools and by foreign travelers.
The Marinelli foundry has cast concerts of important bells, such as that of the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary in Pompeii (Naples), the bells of Montecassino, the bells of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires and the bell of the Jubilee 2000 "Giovannea", commissioned by the Pope John Paul II.
Until the early twentieth century, the Marinelli foundry was only a large rectangular workshop with a very low ceiling, set in the middle of a vast expanse of uncultivated grass. Subsequently, after the Second World War, the Marinellis carried out some renovations, expanding the shop and creating huge rooms dedicated to the collection of old family heirlooms.
Consequently those rooms became a museum, given the numerous visitors who came from all over Italy to see the works of the foundry. With the nomination of "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO, the Marinelli foundry, as well as a workshop for creating bells, has also become a museum equipped with various visiting rooms for the various visits of tourists. The room where the bells melt can also be visited.
The old part of the shop has remained the same as always, where there are the ancient handcrafted tools for the manufacture of bells, the various bronze and tin drains, and the numerous ovens. The part dedicated to the museum is preceded by a small side room for souvenirs and the purchase of tickets.
Consequently, in the new rooms for sightseeing, multilingual signs and glass cases are posted in every part of their wall in which all fragments of the old bells that have been destroyed or too damaged to continue ringing are collected.
At the end of the visit, in the foundry room, an expert plays some classic pieces and the hymn "Ave Maria" beating the hammer on hanging bells of different tones to commemorate the disaster that occurred in the 2002 Molise earthquake.
Pontifical Marinelli bell foundry
Address: Via D onofrio 14,
Phone: 0865 78235
Site:
http://campanemarinelli.com/Location inserted by
Pierpaolo Dori