The Abbey of Montecassino and its continuous rebirth
On the peak of Montecassino in Lazio, we find the Abbey of Montecassino, a Benedictine monastery. This is a truly beautiful place rich of history, culture and art.
Throughout history of the Abbey of Montecassino
Founded by St. Benedetto da Norcia, was built on an ancient tower and an ancient temple of Apollo, this place is located 519 meters above sea level. Its history is marked by continuous events that takes turns: earthquakes, destructions, raids, fortunately followed by reconstructions of the structure.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Abbey was a very active cultural center, thanks to the abbots, archives, libraries, and miniature and writing schools there was the preservation and transcription of many ancient works.
Among the most important historical artifacts that have been passed on :
- there are the very precious first documents in the vernacular language
- a notorious ‘miniati cassinesi’ codex
- the rare and precious incunabula.
Among the abbots who had been in Montecassino the most important was Desiderio, who later became Pope Victor III, who after his passing was buried in the abbey itself. He rebuilt the abbey at the end of the eleventh century, and he also decorated the church with stunning mosaics and frescoes.
Most of the decorations were paintings that today are almost all lost.
In fact we only know some special subjects, such as the stories of the Old and New Testament in the atrium.
During the Second World War, precisely on 15th, 17th, 18th February 1944, the Allies after an unsuccessful attempt to break through the Gustav line, bombed the Abbey of Montecassino burning it to the ground with air raids that turned it into a cluster of ruins .
Luckily, they were able to rescue the entire archive and the most important bibliographic memorabilia.
This attack was totally useless to the Allies. The Germans used the ruins as defensive points of support, and only in May 1944 their defense was forced.
Unfortunately there was a huge loss and sacrifice of Polish soldiers who were part of the Andres corp, there were over 3000 deads and today some of them are buried in the Polish military cemetery of Monte Cassino (which hosts more than a thousand soldiers).
After the war the abbey was rebuilt trying to reproduce the exact destroyed architecture.