Stemme of Agnone (Molise)

In May, we visited the Italian region of Molise, which you find sandwiched between northern Puglia and southern Abruzzo.

But the items that caught my eye as we made our way through the narrow streets were the diverse decorations above some of the town’s residential doorways. They are called ‘stemme’ (the plural of ‘stemma’) which is the Italian word for a coat of arms. Originally these decorations were probably heraldic symbols or family crests.