Bonefro, Italy
As seen from the old convent above the town.
At one point in my life, during and after college, I was a professional freelance musician playing violin and viola in various ensembles in Southern California. One of my Italian colleagues from this time founded a chamber music festival in Bonefro, Italy called the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival. It was a three week intensive session for conservatory level string players from around the world performing chamber music and taking lessons with its faculty. Bonefro is a small and ancient town dating back nearly 2,000 years with a population of roughly 1,000 people and situated in the agricultural region of Molise. I was a founding faculty member where I was a teacher and performer.
Bonefro was, and still is, a small town representing a part of Italy that is slowly dying away. The town had over 5,000 residents prior to the Second World War, but has since dwindled in population with many younger people moving away to bigger cities or to Canada as many Italians did after the end of the war. I have not been back in quite some time, but I am certain many of the apartments and small houses are still vacant. Even then, some properties were being sold for $1 as long as you promised to develop the building within a period of 15 years. I did strongly consider this at some point but in the end decided against it. Probably a good idea considering a major earthquake hit just a few years later, causing a heavy damage and some fatalities.
Despite all this, Bonefro is a beautiful town with incredible people, fantastic food, great olive oil and ancient traditions. At times it can feel as if you’re walking through a Giuseppe Tornatore movie, with its eccentric personalities, plethora of hangouts and bars, communal time in the main piazza, siestas (nap time) and more.
It’s this backdrop that provides for an ideal place to photograph. It can be tricky though, as old retired Italian farmers don’t necessarily like their photos being taken by strangers, let alone by a young American. To succeed, you can snap shots surreptitiously with a small camera or you can spend time with your subjects to gain their trust beforehand, which could possibly require some heavy drinking first.
The photos above are a sampling of some of my favorite pictures taken in Bonefro. I miss it so much and hope to visit it again soon. I would love to compare a new set of photos with these photos taken a long time ago. “Walking” through Bonefro on Google Maps can only take me so far to get an idea.
Roughly a 45 minute drive from Bonefro is the city of Termoli, a port town dating back to pre-Roman times. The music festival performed in its historic center frequently and we of course took the opportunity to visit its incredible beaches, restaurants and vibrant night life. And if you ever visit Termoli, I highly recommend taking a boat out to the Tremiti Islands, with its own beautiful beaches and a monastery dating back to the 9th century.
