HISTORY

Love for this land and its water is attested by the ancient Samnites settlements.  The Samnites, renowned Italic  people, quickly perceived the health benefits  of this water as a precious ally for their well-being and the socio-economic structure of their villages. A Samnite village was founded in the Matese valley which soon became a  thriving town as well as a flourishing market for agricultural and pastoral activities linked to livestock transhumance and wool trade.  The Municipium of Saepinum was founded by the Romans on the ruins of the original Samnite village dating back to the II – III century B.C..  Its location was not fortuitous. The area where Saepinum was founded was rich in water thus it was extremely easy for the Romans to connect the aqueducts from the mountainous ridge to the town’s water mains through water towers placed on the town wall. In imperial times (under Augustan rule) the town became a resort area as it was situated along an important livestock track.  Water was copiously used in both public and private basins. Excavation activities have unearthed several water conduits (fistulae aquariae)  as well as three spa facilities: two baths managed most probably by private citizens and a public spa in the forum.  Centre of social life, entertainment and  therapeutic activities, public spas have always been an index  of cultural assessment and, in the past two thousand years, source of attraction for the entire territory. The cult for water dates back to more than two thousand years ago and has never ceased.  The mythical springs, “Three Fountains”, located among the mountainous ridge just above town have become in recent times  scene of unending pilgrimage by countless people  who for decades continue to benefit  from this water’s health properties. With the advent of modern science, the  beneficial properties of this water (Three Fountains of Sepino) become  subject of  scientific studies.  As far back as 1870 Prof. Cannizzaro, a distinguished chemist from Rome, examines its important diuretic properties while  identifying  favourable   water-balance qualities.  Its  salinity was measured in 1927 by Prof. Ciriello and the  first chemical-physical analysis was carried out in 1950-1951 by Prof. Malquori, who, for the first time, defined it as  “of low mineral content”. In 1970, Prof. Mario Covello, director of the Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemical Institute of the University of Naples in his report, concerning the mineral water’s chemical-physical properties, sampled at the “Sepinia” spring,  wrote  “in view of the percentage of dissolved ions and their chemical nature and based on the definition of mineral water given by Marotta and Sica this water can be defined as “of low mineral content”.