CASSINO AND THE LAND OF ST BENEDICT

Foto di Bruno D’Amata

An ancient feudal state running from the Cassino inland to the Tyrrhenian Sea, crossed by the Garigliano River. The Land of Saint Benedict (in Latin Terra Sancti Benedicti) developed between the seventh and the nineteenth century, under the influence of the Abbey of Montecassino, which played a leading role  for the religion, politics and culture of the Middle Ages. According to the legend, the Abbot used to  overlook the land from the top of Monte Cassino with the naked eye and he could distinguish the borders of the kingdom  and keep under control his numerous possessions. The modern cities that arose from the feud share the trait to gravitate around the city of Cassino. Today, more than 200 years after the end of that hegemony, Cassino keeps playing a central role in the history, the culture and the local economy. The city is known all over the world primarily for its Abbey, the most famous monastery of Christianity, founded by St. Benedict in 529 and destroyed several times, today is a faithful reconstruction of 20,000 square meters.

The city, due to the presence of several war cemeteries and the famous “Percorso della Battaglia”, a walking tour through the sites where the most dramatic episodes of the battle of Monte Cassino took place, is also a famous destination for the so called “Tourism of memory”. Cassino is also famous for its huge archaeological value, just think of the Archaeological Park of Casinum, the remains of the ancient Roman city where you can admire, besides the remains of polygonal walls, the theater, the Mausoleum of Ummidia Quadratilla and the Amphitheatre. Not to mention the natural attractions of the place, like the Montecassino Natural Monument, a natural area of ​​694 hectares comprising the relief of the Montecassino mountain, where you have the impression to relive history.