Misty Mountains--A day at Montecassino

On the Tuesday after our trip to Naples, we got on a bus and headed southeast to the famous Benedictine monastery, Montecassino.  St. Benedict established the monastery around 529 on the site of a Roman Temple to Apollo.  Legend says that when St. Benedict chose the site for his monastery, he destroyed the altar to Apollo and rededicated it to St. Martin.  Today, Montecassino is famous because of its World War II history.  The allies believed that German soldiers were using Montecassino as a hideout, and so they proceeded with a bombing campaign.  Two days after the bombing campaign, German paratroopers took up positions in the monastery's ruins and it was then the site of a major battle between German and allied forces.  The first forces to arrive and challenge the Germans were the Poles, and today, there is a large Polish cemetery adjacent to the monastery.  The monastery that we see today is a reconstruction, but it tries to be faithful to the original design.  The monastery is high up on a hill and as we approached by bus, we were able to look up at the grand and beautiful white structure which stood out in contrast to the greenery of the hill.  We drove up the narrow, winding road (yikes!) and finally reached the monastery.  It was a cool day, and it was quite chilly on the top of the mountain.  Quite a few of us were underdressed and we snuggled together to stay warm.  Despite the temperature, the view was spectacular.  We looked out over misty mountainous terrain.  As with Subaico, I understood why Benedict had chosen this as a site for contemplation and religious study.  It was really quite spectacular.  We took a nice tour of the monastery.  I think that the parts that stood out to me most were the beautiful white cloisters in the center of the monastery and the wonderful map and manuscript collection.  I am such a book nerd and so the leather bound volumes and illuminated manuscripts caught my eye.  In addition, they had a wonderful map collection with old maps of Montecassino and Italy during the time of Benedict.  Because the monastery had been largely constructed, it was interesting to hear what had survived, what had been reconstructed to look the same, and what had been changed after the war.  There was a very interesting (modern) painting in one of the chapels depicting the monks processing out of the ruined Montecassino as St. Benedict looks on in the distance.  Luckily, no monks were killed during the bombing although there were many casualties in the town of Cassino during the war, and the town was largely destroyed.  As I left the monastery, I was again struck by the amazing view that was framed in the doorway as I left.

A view of Montecassino from the bus 

The entrance to the monastery

The view from the monastery

The cloister

A statue of St. Benedict

Beautiful archways

The painting of the monks leaving the destroyed monastery

Benedict writing his famous Rule

A hall in the monastery--the walls are covered in ancient fragments

Another view from the monastery

Beautiful archways

The redone basilica

The artist painted himself into the wall mural

A starry tunnel

Family coats of arms

Pretty book!

Yay for books!

A map of the area

An illuminated manuscript

The view as I exited the monastery

After leaving the monastery, we headed back down the mountain (ahhh) to the town of Cassino.  Cassino was also destroyed during WWII, and was rebuilt using money from the Marshall Plan.  Today it is a sweet, quiet little town (Although we were there during siesta time, so maybe it's usually a bit more bustling?).  About six or seven of us grabbed lunch at a little cafe-style restaurant.  I had a nice vegetable soup, which felt good on a chilly day.  After lunch we grabbed coffee (always important!) before meeting back up with the group.  In addition, I spent a little bit of time sketching Montecassino on its little mountain while sitting on a bench in Cassino.  Being down in the twon definitely gave a sense of perspective that was different than being up in the monastery itself.  In some ways it looks more spectacular from down below and feels more modest than you might expect when you are inside. 

Montecassino from Cassino

Our next stop was a small church in Capua called Sant'Angelo in Formis, which was built Desiderius, the abbot of Montecassino.  Desiderius built the church in the eleventh century.  The church was small and very architecturally beautiful.  It is known for having had a very impressive fresco program.  We headed inside to take a look at the frescoes.  They were largely undergoing restoration, and so we were unable to see some of them, but the frescoes that we did see were reasonably well intact and beautiful in color.  Personally, I was more taken with the outside of the little church than the inside.  In front of the church, there was a long, beautiful courtyard which overlooked the scenic landscape.  Here too I decided to sketch, sitting down in the courtyard and working out the geometry of the structure on my page.  One of the member of our group had a birthday that day, so we shared some delicious fruit tarts in the courtyard before heading back to the bus. 

Sant'Angelo--isn't it cute? 

One of the frescoes in Sant'Angelo--they still had very rich color

Inside Sant'Angelo

The floors in Sant'Angelo

Our day at Montecassino and Sant'Angelo in Capua was a wonderful day.  I think part of what was nice for me was that because we only visited two different sites, we got plenty of time in each and we really got a good feel for each space.  It was also interesting to see the way in which history maps itself onto a place, and the way in which one space can be important to historians for very different reasons in distinct time periods.  What I'm referencing is Montecassino which is important to our program for its medieval roots, but it is also important to WWII scholars.  It was clear when visiting Montecassino that both histories remain important and alive in the space today.