Montecassino Abbey is located on a rocky hill about 130 km southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, and it’s one of the most famous christian monasteries and first house of the Benedictine Order.
The history of Montecassino Abbey
It was founded in 529 a.C. by Saint Benedict of Nursia himself, who composed for its community the so-called Rule, known all over the western world so much so that it represents the basis for modern Europe’s birth.
Of the first monastery almost nothing is known, since it was sacked and abandoned by the Lombards in 577 a.C. first and by the Saracens in 883 a.C. next.
During the 11th and 12th centuries it acquired the so-called Terra San Benedicti, a large territory around Montecassino, and Peter the Deacon and Cardinal Leo of Ostia wrote the monastery’s chronicles.
The Abbey was then destroyed by an earthquake in 1349, and during the World War II it became site of the Battle of Montecassino, falling victim of the Allied bombing in 1944. It took a decade for it to be rebuilt for the fourth time, but fortunately part of the rubble was saved.
Montecassino Abbey Today
Nowadays the Abbey also has a lodge, one of the 11 national monuments’ public state libraries and a Museum, built in 1980, in which you can find The Mystical Nativity by Botticelli.
From Montecassino it is possible to admire the beautiful Terra Sancti Benedicti, the city of Cassino below and part of the city wall that connected the ancient Casinum to its acropolis.
Don’t miss the opportunity to visit this breathtaking monastery with one of our Day Trips from Rome.
