Discover Cassino

Cassino is a comune of about 34,700 people in the province of Frosinone, at the southern end of Lazio — the southernmost city of the Latin Valley. It was called San Germano until 1863.

Two things define it, and they are a mountain and a war.

The mountain is Montecassino, rising to 520 metres directly above the town and marking the southern boundary of the Valle Latina. Its abbey is one of the foundational sites of European monasticism: Benedict of Nursia settled among the ruins of the acropolis of ancient Casinum, destroyed the image of Apollo and the pagan altars, and sanctified the place in the name of St John the Baptist. From that moment he never left Montecassino. He founded the monastery that became a model for Western monasticism and one of the major cultural centres of Europe through the Middle Ages, and he wrote the Rule there.

The war is the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, which caused huge Allied and German casualties and the nearly total destruction of the town itself. Cassino is known as la città martire for it, and was completely rebuilt in the post-war years.

The town sits at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and the Liri, on the Via Casilina between Rome and Naples, and is home to the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio.

Why is Cassino famous? For the abbey of Montecassino and for the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino, which caused huge Allied and German casualties and the nearly total destruction of the town.

Is the town old? No. It was almost totally destroyed by wartime bombing — it is known as la città martire — and completely rebuilt after the war.

What did Benedict do here? He settled among the ruins of the acropolis of Casinum, destroyed the image of Apollo and the pagan altars, sanctified the place in the name of St John the Baptist, founded the monastery, and wrote the Rule. He never left Montecassino after that.

How does this relate to Subiaco? Subiaco is where Benedict began, living three years in a cave and founding thirteen monasteries. Montecassino is where he settled permanently and wrote the Rule.

What are the Placiti Cassinesi? Documents dated 960–963, kept in the abbey, considered the first documents ever written in the Italian language.

How high is the abbey? Montecassino rises to 520 metres and marks the southern boundary of the Valle Latina.

Was there a temple up there? Yes — in the Roman era the most venerated god was Apollo, and his temple rose on Montecassino where the abbey stands today.

How do I get there? Cassino has its own station on the Rome–Naples line and sits on the Via Casilina between the two cities.

How do I get up to the abbey? By road, up a long series of hairpins. It is 520 metres above the town and not a practical walk as transport.

What was the town called before? San Germano, until 1863. Before that, in Roman times, Casinum — from the Oscan cascum, "ancient", according to Varro.

Has the abbey been destroyed before? Repeatedly: a Lombard raid in 577, a Saracen attack in 883 in which Abbot Bertharius was killed, an earthquake on 9 September 1349, and the 1944 battle.