Monte Chiodo, Archaeological site and hill in Buonalbergo, Italy

Monte Chiodo is a limestone hill reaching 806 m north of Buonalbergo, overlooking the Miscano valley. Its summit holds archaeological traces of the medieval fortified settlement of Montegiove, built over a pre-Roman site; the remains are mainly medieval. The northwest slope is gentle and merges into a plateau, while the southern side is steeper, marked by the Pescasseroli-Candela drover's road at 638 m.

A pre-Roman settlement stood on the hill; in the early Middle Ages it was replaced by the fortified village of Montegiove, probably founded around the 6th century and consolidated in the 8th, perhaps under Duke Arechi II, with a castle, church and walls. In 1122 Duke William II of Apulia destroyed the castle by fire and sword, taking 50 soldiers prisoner. Buonalbergo, founded lower down, then prevailed.

The name derives from Mons Iovis, "Mount of Jupiter", the name by which the medieval settlement appears in the 12th-century Chronicon Beneventanum. In the 15th century documents record Mons Clovi and Monte Chiovi, later Italianised into Monte Chiodo; the local dialect still calls the hill Montechiuovi. The inhabitants of Montegiove lived mainly from pig rearing and timber production.

The tratturo Pescasseroli-Candela crosses the southern slope at 638 m, marking a clear line below the summit; a tavern stands at the foot of the hill. The north-west side is the least steep, fading into a plateau, while the southern flank is the sharpest. Conifers planted in the 1980s by the Comunità montana del Fortore cover part of the surface, the rest is low scrub.

The name Monte Chiodo descends from Mons Iovis, "Mount of Jupiter", the name by which the medieval settlement appears in the 12th-century Chronicon Beneventanum. Fifteenth-century documents already record forms such as Mons Clovi and Monte Chiovi, and the name Montedigione was still remembered in the late 18th century.