Today was our last 'tour'. We met Aldo at base and took about an hour ride north. The
Montecassino Monastery was founded by St. Benedict about 529 A.D. on the remnants of a
pre-existing Roman fortification of the
Municipum Casinum. The heathen cult was still practiced on this mountain site in the temple of Apollo and in a nearby holy grove to which a sacrifice area was adjoining.
Montecassino became famous for the prodigious life and the Sepulcher of its founder. Through the ages, the abbey was looked upon as a place of holiness, culture and art for which it became renowned on a world-wide level. Around 577, the monastery was destroyed by the
Longobards of
Zotone, Duke of
Beneventum, but early in the eighth century Pope Gregory II commissioned the
Brescian Petronace to rebuild the monastery. In 883, the Saracens invaded and sacked the Monastery and burnt it down, causing the death of
Bertarius its saint Abbot, Founder of medieval
Cassino. The surviving monks first fled to
Teano and later to
Capua. Monastic life was only fully resumed towards the middle of the tenth century, thanks to Abbot
Aligerno. The third destruction, caused by an earthquake, occurred in 1349. Nothing but a few walls remained of Abbot
Desiderius' splendid building. Many new additions and embellishments were made during reconstruction so that the Abbey acquired the greatness and the imposing appearance it conserved until February 15, 1944, during the final stage of world war II when
Montecassino happened to be on the firing line. This place of prayer and study which had become in these exceptional circumstances a peaceful shelter for hundreds of defenceless civilians, in only three hours was reduced to a heap of debris under which many of the refugees met their death. Reconstruction and decoration works took more than a decade and were exclusively financed by the Italian State. Here are some pictures that I captured during our visit there:
Picture of the abbey after we just got off the
Autostrada.
Beautiful, peaceful grounds. You could stay all day here just to enjoy the peace and quiet here.
The grounds inside are beautiful.