It's difficult to imagine an Italian town or city without a skyline of turreted church towers or an hourly clamour of bells pealing and chiming in the air. With the Vatican nestled in the heart of the country, the large bronze instruments have made Christianity literally resonate throughout Italy for centuries
But just as the multitudes called to daily mass by the belfry tolling have all but dried up, the ancient knowledge used to produce the giant bronzes is at risk of vanishing. And that makes the survival of Italy's oldest bell foundry — located in the small town of Agnone in the country's hilly, desolate southern region of Molise — a near miracle.
