Seliaapianisi

Sant' Elia a Pianisi

Altitude: 671 m a.s.l
Territory: hilly
Population: ca. 2300 inhabitants
Zip code: 86048
Phone Area Code: 0874
Patron Saint:S. Elia Profeta on 20 July

Translator: http://www.systransoft.com/index.html
Sant'Elia a Pianisi, a lovely little village of 6,784 hectars, is situated on a hill, 666 m. above sea level. It's about 37 km. From Campobasso, the capital city of Molise. Here, in the woods and fields, corn, wheat, oats and olives are grown.

People from neighbouring village, like Casalfano, Ficarola, S. Nicola and Centocelle have come to S. Elia for its mild climate and fertility of land. Sant'Elia a Pianisi was most likely founded between the Longobard age and the Norman age. Historians believe a group of fugitives from a burnt castle and villages come to Sant'Elia and built homes and a small chapel, consecrated in honour of the prophet Elia, the protector of fire. This could be the origins of Sant'Elia's village and name. Sant'Elia became Sant'Elia a Pianisi on March 26, 1863 after Royal Decree no. 1218 added "a Pianisi" to its name. The name "a Pianisi" (from the latin planum, meaning plane) comes from a nearly town called Pianisi, which was destroyed by Spanish Vice-King Moncada. After its destruction the inhabitants of Pianisi moved to the village of Sant'Elia. Since this period Sant'Elia has been a prosperous village; from its beginnings Sant'Elia a P. has become famous for its delicious olive oil. To maximize its potential Sant'Elia entered the "Associazione Nazionale città dell'olio", an organization of olive oil producing villages and towns.

Until 1970's Sant'Elia was an indistrial village as well as an agricultural one. At its peak, Sant'Elia had three pasta factories, an olive husk factory, an oil mill, an a trousers factory. Some of these products are famous troughout Europe and America. Unfortunately, many of these industries have moved out of Sant'Elia a Pianisi to places more accesible by roads. However, two small shirt factory producing Italian Speciality foods remain.
http://www.proloco-planisina.it/extra/frame_paese_eng.htm

Sant'Elia a Pianisi è un piccolo paese dei Molise situato a nord-est di Campobasso, capoluogo di regione, da cui dista approssimativamente 36 chilometri. La sua superficie, di circa 6784 ettari, e' costituita da boschi, colli e monticelli dove vengono praticate diverse colture: grano, granone ed avena. C'è, inoltre, la coltura dell'olivo, per la cui promozione questo comune è entrato a far parte della "Associazione Nazionale Città dell'Olio" che si propone tra i suoi obiettivi quello della valorizzazione e della promozione dei prodotto "olio" e dei territorio dove l'olivo è più vocato. Sant' Elia a Pianisi e' stata sede di importanti attività industriali, i cui prodotti sono oggi conosciuti in molte parti dei mondo. Ed infatti negli anni '70 qui c'erano tre pastifici, un sansificio, un molino, un pantalonificio, la maggior parte dei quali, soprattutto per problemi legati alla viabilità, si sono trasferiti nel capoluogo, e sono stati solo parzialmente sostituiti da altre attività sorte in questi ultimi anni. tra queste un biscottificio ed una azienda conserviera.

Religiosi celebri:

Padre Pio

Commissioned by the town's benefactors, on 4 October 1604 the cross was planted and the monastery's first stone laid. Work was completed in 1631. Padre Pio first came here on 25 January 1904 to complete his secondary education. After San Giovanni Rotondo, it is the place where Padre Pio stayed the longest: 4 years. In this monastery, young Brother Pio was assaulted by the demon: "One summer night in 1905, young Brother Pio heard noises coming from the neighbouring cell. When he smelt a strong smell of sulphur, he called out through the window to a study mate. Receiving no answer, he turned round and saw a big black dog come in through the door with smoke coming out of his mouth. Seized with terror, Father Pio fell on his bed and heard the animal say: "it is he, it is he". Then the beast jumped out of the window in one bound. Another supernatural event took place in January 1905. Brother Pio used to refer to it as an 'unusual fact', during which he found himself in two different placed at one time. He was in the chancel, when he suddenly found himself far away in a mansion in which a man had died just as his child baby was being born. The Madonna told Brother Pio that she would entrust this child to his care. "Let's ask this divine child to clothe us in humility because only with this virtue may we imbue this mystery with divine tenderness ".

Conventi di Padre Pio: http://www.edizionipadrepio.it/conventi/sant_elia/s_elia.htmI

Padre Raffaele

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Father Raffaele (at birth named Domenico Petruccelli) known as "the servant of God" was born in Sant'Elia a Pianisi on the 14th december 1816. His parents were Salvatore and Brigida Mastrovita. He entered the Capuchin Order on november 10th 1834 in convent of Morcone (BN).

After his novitiate, he went to another convent in the province, most probably the convent of Agnone (Isernia). Father Raffaele was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Larino (CB) in 1840 and itwas then that he began his silent but productive apostolate.

He helped and loved the poor who called him "the holy monk". After the act of 1866, that soppressed the religious orders, all the convents were closed and the monks and the nuns were obliged to go home.

Father Raffaele returned to Sant'Elia a Pianisi and the mayor of that period, Baldassarre Colavita, made it possible for him to remain in town nominating him the guardian of the convent. During the following twenty years he helped people in need in Sant'Elia a P. and the neighbouring towns. After this period he went to other towns and only returned to his native town in 1900 where he died on January 6th 1901. Pilgrims can visit both the convent cell where Padre Raffaele lived and died and the house where he was born. On April 16th 1936 father Raffaele's skull was transferred from the cemetery to the convent. On march 16th 1950 the diocesan proceedings for his beatification were started by the bishop's court in Benevento.

I Frati Cappuccini:

http://www.fraticappuccini.it/personaggi/servi/raffaele.shtml

Famiglie di notarietà:

I Colavita

Translator: http://www.systransoft.com/index.html

A long time ago in the quaint hilltop village of Sant’Elia a Pianisi, located in the Molise region of Italy, two small family businesses were born. One family operated a stone mill for crushing homegrown olives used to produce fine extra virgin olive oil. The other family gathered the durum wheat harvest, milled the wheat into semolina grain and ultimately produced fresh pasta for the local market. Over time, both families became experts at their trade, passing their knowledge to the next generation, who in turn did the same. The two families had much in common not only in perfecting time-honored production methods, but also in name. They were both Colavita families.

Today, the Colavita Olive Oil and Colavita Pasta companies are still family-owned and operating in the same town of their ancestors. They have since joined with another family-owned company, Colavita USA, and together they have shared the fruits of their respective crafts with American consumers for over twenty years.

I Iacovelli

http://www.roangelo.net/iacovelli/giuseppi.html

http://www.giubileo.molise.it/luoghi/29.htm
http://www.ospitamolise.it/vico_palazzo.htm
http://www.tg5.it/meteo/previ_tempe/italia/loc_x_loc/comuni/com_14070074.shtml
http://genforum.genealogy.com/gentile/
http://directory.kompass.com/fr/Italie/Molise/dir.php
http://www.netkosmos.com/portfolio/prati_verdi_del_molise.htm

TELERADIO PADRE PIO
http://www.teleradiopadrepio.it/