The town of
CASSINO
, fifty minutes down the railway line from Frosinone, is the site of another important monastery, the
Abbey of Montecassino
(daily 9.30am-12.30pm & 3.30pm-6pm; free;
www.osb.org
), founded in 529 by St Benedict after he left Subiaco
, on a spot to which he was guided by three ravens. This was for many years one of the most important and influential monastic complexes in the Christian world, its monks spreading the word as far away as Britain and Scandinavia in between developing the tradition of culture and learning that was at the core of the Benedictine order. Ironically, its strategically vital position, perched high on a mountaintop between Rome and Naples, has been its downfall: this vantage point has been coveted and fought over by a succession of invaders, and over the years the abbey has been repeatedly destroyed. During World War II, the abbey came to be the lynchpin of the German presence in this part of Italy and, after a battle that lasted almost six months, the Allies - a mixture of Poles, New Zealanders and Indian troops - eventually bombed it to ruins in May 1944, sacrificing several thousand lives in the process. It was subsequently rebuilt, and the austere medieval style of its buildings has been faithfully re-created, but it's really more impressive for its position than for itself: much of the complex is not open to the public, and its sterile white central courtyard is engaging only for the views it gives over the surrounding hills and the Polish war cemetery below. The church, off here, in a hideously ornate Baroque style, has a small
museum
(same hours as abbey; L2000/1.03) containing incunabula, old manuscripts and suchlike. But otherwise you can't help but feel that Montecassino's glory days ended firmly with the war.
The
town
below was fairly comprehensively destroyed, too, and has very little appeal. There's a
tourist office
at Piazza de Gasperi 10 (Mon-Sat 8.30am-1pm & 3.30-6.30pm, Sun 9am-noon; tel 0776.25.629,
www.apt.frosinone.it
), on the opposite side of the centre to the train and bus station, and another at Corso della Repubblica 23 (Mon-Sat 9am-noon & 4-7pm; tel 0776.26.842). Buses scale the mountain to the abbey from Piazza San Benedetto twice daily. If you need to stay,
hotels
are at least inexpensive - pick up a list from the tourist office.
