Isernia (Latin: Aesernia or, in Pliny and later writers, Eserninus, or in the Antonine Itinerary, Serni; Greek: Αἰσερνία) is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Molise, and the capital of Isernia province.

Isernia is a flourishing center of pasta makers, stone masons, and embroidery craftsSituated on a rocky crest rising from 350 m to 475 m between the Carpino and the Sordo rivers, the plan of Isernia still reflects the ancient layout of the Roman town, with a central wide street, the cardo maximus, still represented by Corso Marcelli, and side streets at right angles on both sides.

The commune of Isernia includes 16 frazioni. The most densely populated is Castelromano which is positioned in a plain at the base of the La Romana mount (862 m), 5 km far from Isernia.Although having been object of repeated destruction, Isernia preserves a large number of monuments of fairly good archaeological interest.

The historical center still keeps intact the spare map structure of the Roman cities: in fact it represents the largest raced Marcelli street, around which there is an infinity of alleys and little spares, as for example, "Trento e Trieste" spares. The famous Fraterna Fountain is the main symbol in this town and it was built in the 13th century : it is made up of living- stone's slabs coming from ruined Roman monuments, while all the rest is a work of local masters, as it was built by the Rampini family in Isernia.

La PinetaIsernia is also known for the archaeological excavation located within its borders, at Isernia La Pineta. Isernia La Pineta contains thousands of bones and stone tools covering 24,000 square yards. It was discovered in 1979, by an amateur naturalist noticed a bone sticking out of the side of a cut that had been created by the construction of the Napoli-Vasto motorway. The site was clearly created by humans, but its purpose is still unknown. The man who lived there was called Homo Aeserniensis.