Pronto habrá nuevas fotos
Italy’s oldest Monastery, The Abbey of Montecassino sits 516m above sea level, overlooking the town of Cassino in Lazio. The Benedictine monastery was founded in 529 by San Benedetto da Norcia, on the site of a former temple and ancient tower and developed a monastic community around the church of San Martino.
Destroyed and reconstructed on several occasions, the monastery was first invaded in 580, rebuilt around 718 before the Saracens destroyed the abbey for a second time in 883, rebuilt by Pope Agapito II in 949.
Destroyed by an earthquake in 1349 and rebuilt again in 1366 , the abbey was constructed as a Neapolitan Baroque monument in the 17th Century, before being bombed and razed to the ground in World War II as part of the battle of Cassino.
Fully restored by 1956 as an exact replica the Abbey has become a major cultural icon across Europe, visited by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
Some text in the modal.
