Montecassino: The meaning

“This house is similar to Sinai, where the sacred decalogue was promulgated: and this is demonstrated by the Rule that was once dictated here. From this place came the law that guides the hearts of men from within and, once propagated, spreads light to the ends of the earth” (“Haec Domus Est Similis Sinai Sacra Iura Ferenti Ut Lex Demonstrat Hic Quae Fuit Edita Quondam. / Lex Hinc Exivit Mentes Quae Ducit Ab Imis, Et Vulgata Dedit Lumen Per Climata Saecli”)

Cortile monumentale dell’abbazia di Montecassino: spazio rettangolare in pietra circondato da un porticato ad archi su due livelli, con balaustra superiore. Al centro si trova un pozzo marmoreo sorretto da due colonne. A sinistra e a destra, in primo piano, ci sono statue su piedistalli. Sullo sfondo si apre un panorama di colline e montagne sotto un cielo nuvoloso.

Abbey of Montecassino

The monk Alfano of Salerno composed these verses for the apse of the basilica of Montecassino, rebuilt between 1066 and 1071 by Abbot Desiderius. He compares the Abbey to Sinai: just as the Law of the Lord, entrusted to Moses, spread from that mountain, so the Rule that forms the basis of Western monasticism spread from Montecassino.

The importance of Montecassino explains why, despite being destroyed four times (in 577, 883, 1349 and during the Second World War [internal reference to the site, Category 6]), it has always risen again. In particular, in 1945, after heavy Allied bombing, it was rebuilt according to the principle of ‘where it was, as it was’ (‘ubi erat uti erat’). This was done to preserve its important spiritual and cultural heritage, which is strongly linked to the territory and the community.

Veduta in bianco e nero dell’abbazia di Montecassino gravemente danneggiata dai bombardamenti della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, con muri crollati, finestre distrutte e vaste porzioni dell’edificio ridotte a macerie sulla collina.

Montecassino Abbey after the bombings of the Second World War

Interno del Museo dell’Abbazia di Montecassino con pavimenti cosmateschi originali esposti su supporti in cemento, collocati al centro della sala verde acqua; sullo sfondo si vedono teche espositive, archi e una scala in marmo che sale al piano superiore.

Museum of the Abbey of Montecassino

Today, its various spaces recount a thousand-year-old story: evidence of faith and culture is preserved in the church, museum, archive and library, such as the manuscripts produced in the scriptorium, the remains of the sculptural and floor decorations from the age of Desiderius, the Romanesque frescoes, the bronze doors that arrived in 1066 from Byzantium, the preliminary drawings and marble components that bear witness to its Baroque appearance, the liturgical furnishings and sacred vestments.

Ingresso laterale dell’abbazia di Montecassino, con il portale ad arco sormontato dalla scritta PAX in rosso; la facciata è in pietra chiara con piccole finestre e balconcini, sulla destra si vede un alto cipresso e l’accesso recintato.

Abbey of Montecassino (PAX portal)

It also hosts the tomb of St. Benedict, which remains miraculously intact, as does most of the crypt decorated at the beginning of the 19th century.

The sense of belonging to this place has grown over time: today Montecassino welcomes visitors and pilgrims with the word ‘pax’, peace, carved on the entrance door, as a symbol of peace and dialogue between different faiths and cultures. This place embodies the deepest meaning of the word ‘heritage’: a material and immaterial legacy that is constantly renewed over time, transforming the past into a living heritage.