The patron saint of Macchiagodena is Saint Nicholas of Bari, celebrated on the third Sunday of May, in the parish church dedicated to him, in the town centre: with a basilican plan and single nave, it has a facade divided by pilasters, with an elegant multi-order stepped decoration between late Baroque and Neoclassical style. The rather sober interior preserves a Renaissance chapel, the only surviving part of the old church.
The great Molise earthquake of 1805 destroyed Macchiagodena's main churches, later rebuilt in the Neoclassical style: this was also the case with the nearby church of San Lorenzo, once a convent until its suppression in 1866, rebuilt in 1719 on a layout suggesting a 13th-century foundation, and which preserves a fine 18th-century organ of the Neapolitan school. Next to it stands the baronial castle, founded as a Lombard watchtower and donated in 1269 by Charles I of Anjou to Barrasio: enlarged to an elongated square plan with four towers, it passed over the centuries through numerous families, including the Cantelmo, the Pandone and the Caracciolo, until, in 1781, the fief was bought by Nicola Centomani, who obtained the marquisal title for it. Restored after the 1805 quake, the castle today houses the town library.
