The Abbey of Montecassino was founded by St Benedict around 529 AD on what remained of a Roman fortification.

The Abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt several times; The Longobards of Zotone destroyed the Abbey in 577 AD, Saracens invaded and destroyed the monastery by fire in 883, it was destroyed in 1349 by an earthquake and the most recent destruction was during the later stages of WWII when once again it was raised to the ground.

The destruction of the Abbey during the allied bombing in WWII left a few interesting artifacts still standing.

The statue of St Benedict that stands at the foot of the access staircase to the Abbey Church survived. The statue was sculpted in 1736 and bears the inscription “Benetictus qui venit in nomine Domini” (Blessed be he who came in the Name of the Lord). The sister statue of St Scolastica standing on the same steps was destroyed and what we see today is a copy of the original.

The high altar in the Abbey Church also survived intact after an anti-aircraft artillery shell lodged itself between two steps that lead up to the high altar without exploding and leaving the altar intact.

At the back of the high altar an inscription on black marble reads “St Benedict and St. Scolastica were never separated in the spirit during their life nor are their bodies separated in their death”. A bronze urn containing their earthly remains is located in this location, chosen by St Benedict for his sister Scolastica and for himself.

In the run up to the 80th anniversary of VE day I took part in a virtual challenge, walking 80km along the Normandy Beaches.

I decided to have my medal presented to me by the Cassino War Memorial in the Commonwealth War Cemetery during our recent visit to Cassino just a few days before VE day.

The medal is a double sided gold chrome star, the front  side, along with the ribbon, is a faithful recreation of the ‘1939-1945 Star’ that was awarded to all operational service during the Second world War. The reverse carries the 80th anniversary VE day logo.

The main reason for travelling to Cassino was to visit the Commonwealth War Cemetery where Mr C’s grandfather is listed on one of the large tablets that commemorates soldiers with no known grave. Mr C’s grandfather took part in the invasion of Sicily in 1943 but the glider he was in was one of many that fell short of land and ditched into the Mediterranean and he was drowned.

We stayed in the Hotel La Pace (which translates as the Peace Hotel) where the hotelier, Pino, hosts talks on the battles of Monte Cassino and the Italian campaign of 1943-1944. Pino wishes to educate young people about what happened in Cassino so that those events are not forgotten by the younger generation.

Pino has undertaken extensive research into the battles of Monte Cassino and has produced videos that tell the story using a mixture of maps and diagrams, archive footage and footage from war films.

For our talk, in English, we were joined by Mauro, an English-speaking Italian. Each of the three men had a connection to the Italian campaign. Mr C told his grandfather’s story. Mauro told the story of his father who was disarmed by the Bersaglieri (Italian military police) and interned by them at the time of Italy’s surrender. Pino told the story of his grandfather who, aged 8, was sheltering inside the abbey of Monte Cassino when it was bombed during the battle.

The bombing of Monte Cassino abbey remains controversial to this day. The campaign was led by an American general, Mark Clark, in his first command of as overall commander of a battlefront. Clark was a cautious commander and had already missed opportunities to shorten the war in Italy. The Allied generals were convinced that the abbey was a German strongpoint and didn’t know that monks and villagers were sheltering there. Debate raged until Clark agreed to the razing of the abbey. Permission was sought and obtained from Pope Pius XII and the bombing was planned for 16 February 1944. The idea was that the bombing would force the German defenders to take cover allowing the Allied infantry to gain ground unopposed and in doing so, break through the German’s Gustav Line and open the road to Rome.

The United States Air Force (USAF) was tasked with bombing the abbey and chose to try out a new technique for bombing targets. In order to evaluate this new technique, several camera crews were brought in to film the bombing and its effectiveness. Because of weather reports, the USAF moved the bombing forward a day but failed to notify the ground troops, negating the reason for bombing the abbey in the first place. After the dust had settled, the Germans occupied the ruins, taking advantage of the extra cover they provided. The Germans had not previously stationed troops inside the abbey.

Pino showed some of the archive footage taken that day. It was shocking to watch, especially knowing that it was a useless act. Both he and Mauro were very critical of Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Badoglio, who took over leadership of the Italian Government after Mussolini was deposed. The conversation between Pino, Mauro and Mr C was interesting because each of them had very different knowledge about, and perspectives on, the events that took place. One slightly odd thing that came out is that in 1946, the Italians made a movie about the bombing of the abbey which featured extras drawn from the townsfolk, a number of whom had been inside the abbey at the time it was bombed.

The battle of Monte Cassino was multi-national and the town has three war cemeteries, one for the Germans, one for the Poles, who were heavily engaged in the battle and lost many casualties, and one for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth cemetery contains the remains of more than 5,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

• Acknowledgement is given to the Armchair General for his contributions to this post

We made sure we attended breakfast earlier rather than later to ensure that bread, cheese and meats were available to us. Whilst we were in the breakfast room, Mauro, who we met during the battle of Cassino discussion the previous night, made a point of shaking our hands and saying goodbye to us before he left.

After breakfast we drove to Gaeta encountering misty mountains and rain before arriving in Gaeta to glorious sunshine. We parked in the medieval part of the town walked up a hill to St Francis’ Church which spectacularly towers over the harbour. Unfortunately, we arrived to find the church wasn’t open.

We followed the uphill pathway and came across a ‘you are here’ signboard which gave us two options: walking up a twisting hill path to see a spectacular view or walk to the nearby Castello Angioino. We chose the Castello hoping to learn some history of the area.

As we arrived, we met an Italian who currently lives in America. It was interesting that he immediately thought we were British because usually, especially, in France we are often mistaken for locals. The American Italian found out that there was an English-speaking tour in half an hour. The tour was interesting: Today the Castello is home to a university but prior to that it was a prison used to incarcerate conscientious objectors. The conditions they were kept in were pretty grim. The prison also used to house two German SS officers convicted of war crimes. Those officers were provided a much better standard of accommodation than the conscientious objectors and allowed the conscientious objectors as servants.

After our tour we walked down the hill to the seafront for lunch. We chose a café that was serving Sfogliatelle Ricce, layered crunchy dough filled with orange and cinnamon flavoured ricotta cream. It was delicious.

We returned to Cassino and our hotel where we chilled out for a while before walking to the Lord Baden Powell Garden which we hadn’t quite managed to walk to the day before. We stopped for a refreshing drink of freshly squeezed orange before entering the garden turned out to be a green space and park so there was not much to see. We made a brief circuit of the green space before heading back to the hotel, stopping for a glass of wine along the way.

Back at the hotel, I freshened up before heading back into town to dine (for the second time) in Sir Jaspers. We found the food to be just as good as it was on our first visit.

We wandered back into town for one final nightcap. We were expecting to enjoy this in the Botanical cocktail bar which to our disappointment was closed for the evening. We chose the bar next door which didn’t stock dry ‘Blush’ Rose wines. The bar did however stock a dry rose non blush wine which I found a refreshing change. Sadly we couldn’t linger for me to sample a second glass we had an early morning start to get to the airport on time!

I awoke wondering what time it was. Light was seeping through the curtains but everywhere was quiet. I squinted at my watch without wearing my glasses and was confused it looked like 8.30 but that couldn’t be possible the alarm had been set for 7.15 and I hadn’t heard it go off.

I put my watch down intending to check it again in a few minutes when I was less fuzzy headed. Meanwhile Mr C had roused, checked his watch and realised it was 8.30. This led to a mad dash around to get ready in time to get to breakfast – before it finished.

Mr C was convinced he had set the alarm and neither of us could understand why we had slept through it. Later in the day he realised that when setting the alarm for the duration of our stay he had missed our first morning off.

Breakfast was continental style and, although a little more limited, reminded me of the breakfasts that were on offer during our visit to Rome in August 2024.

After breakfast we walked into town intending to catch a bus to Montecassino Abbey. On the way to the square where we thought the nearest bus stop was located, we stopped off for a refreshing drink.

We didn’t see a single bus so we decided to head towards the railway station where the main bus station is also located. After seeing no buses as we walked, we abandoned the idea, deciding to use the hire car instead.

The drive up the mountain road to the Abbey was a little scary with sheer drops and hairpin bends. The journey was worth the effort; the Abbey is wonderful and peaceful and has an interesting museum that, amongst other exhibits, displays fragments of the original Abbey which during WWII was almost completely destroyed by targeted allied bombing. There is a story about that bombing to be told which I will share in a separate post.

Back in town, we parked the car at the hotel and headed into town with a view to an afternoon cake. Unfortunately, the cake shop was about to close but next door was a shop selling Gelato. A temptation too hard to resist.

Later we dined in Lustri Lab, a fish restaurant which wasn’t due to open until 8 o’clock. We had arrived shortly before 8 but the chef was happy for us to enter the restaurant early. The food and service were amazing, there was even a footstool to place my handbag on.

We received an Amuse Bouche and bruschetta before Mr C’s starter arrived. The starter was bluefish carpaccio, served raw and it was very good. For my main course I had chosen a cod dish but, when it arrived it, turned out to be a pasta dish with cod. Mr C had not been listening properly and had focused on what I was saying about the pasta dish. Whilst we were dining the heavens opened and there was a heavy downfall of rain.

Our first port of call for a nightcap turned out to be unfriendly, customers were not welcomed and made to feel that they shouldn’t be there. We didn’t linger long, moving round the corner to the street where, on the previous evening we were watching the ladies promenading up and down the street.

We settled ourselves in the Botanical cocktail bar where the atmosphere was comfortable and the service attentive. The proprietor kept adjusting the tables as people left to make the space more welcoming. We lingered a while before returning to our hotel for the night.

The alarm woke us at 4am. We got washed and dressed then drove the short distance to Manchester airport.

When we arrived at the meet and greet car park, the barrier didn’t lift to let us in. Mr C pressed the intercom button to speak to someone who checked his details up on the system. Mr C was informed that he had booked a space in ‘Self-Parking’ rather than meet and greet which meant we had to travel the short distance to the carpark next door. The lower levels were quite full so we had to drive to a higher level to find a space.

It was the same distance from the car park to check in as it would have been from the meet and greet car park. Manchester airport operates a self-check in system where you weigh your own bags and attach labels before taking them to the desk for passports and boarding cards to be checked. Luckily there was a friendly Jet2 rep on hand to help us with the procedure.

The extra time needed to park the car meant that there wasn’t time for Mr C to have the cooked breakfast he was looking forward to. We grabbed a sandwich to eat on the plane and headed to the boarding area for our flight.

The flight was slightly delayed but once we were on our way everything ran smoothly apart from a bit of turbulence over the Alps.

We had booked a hire car rather than a private transfer. This also proved to be a saga. We were expecting it to pick the car up at the airport but we found that the car hire company operated just outside the airport and we had to wait for a shuttle bus to take us there. The shuttle bus arrives every 10 minutes but the first bus dropped passengers off but didn’t pick up the passengers that were waiting (us and another family). Mr C phoned the company and was told that the shuttle bus was currently on its way.

Eventually we got to the rental centre where we were informed that our insurance wasn’t fully comprehensive so we elected to upgrade our cover for an extra cost based on an incident we experienced in Cyprus several years ago.

When all the paperwork was signed, we were told that the car had been upgraded. Our allocated car was large and had damage in several places. There was a bit of to and froing and photographing the damages, including tape on the windscreen which we learned had recently been replaced.

Eventually we were able to set off towards to our hotel in Cassino. The car Lynk & Co was big, wide, hybrid and automatic, a whole new adventure for Mr C. We were now thankful that we didn’t have to drive through the busy airport traffic.

The journey to our hotel, La Pace ran smoothly except for some confusion about taking a ticket instead of paying at the motorway toll booth. We checked into the Hotel La Pace and were shown to our room. We had a balcony and amazing view looking towards the mountains and Montecassino Abbey. We had a refreshing drink in the hotel café bar and set up a time slot with the proprietor for his talk on WWII and the battle of Cassino. Then, Mr C headed into town to orient himself and find nearby restaurants, including Sir Jaspers that the hotel receptionist had booked us into for that evening.

He was gone for ages…

Eventually I receive a phone call, he was lost! I suggested he used Google Maps to find his way back. When he eventually arrived back at the hotel it was time to leave again to get to St Jaspers.

We were able to sit outside where we shared a bruschetta starter before our main courses. I had chosen ravioli pasta with a mushroom sauce. When my meal arrived it was gnocchi, not pasta. I was told that ravioli was finished and now they were serving homemade gnocchi with the same sauce. I followed this with light chocolate cake that had layers of pistachio cream sprinkled with pistachios. It was delicious.

We headed to the town square which was buzzing with activity and we sat enjoying a nightcap in one of the bars watching people, especially ladies, promenading backwards and forwards along the street. Eventually, it was time to go back to the hotel, the short way round, glimpsing the Abbey and Castle illuminated atop the mountains.

Back from my travels…

Roland Allen

For many centuries, the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major was called Saint Mary of the Manger or The Bethlehem of the West, owing to preservation in the Basilica, sine the 7th Century, of the precious relic of the Manger of the Child Jesus (today at the relquary crypt below the Main Altar. Originally, it was venerated at the Oratory of the Manger, built during the Pntificate of Theodore I (642 – 649). Arnolfo di Cambio, a key figure of mediaeval art in Italy, sculptured in 1291 for the ancient Oratory the first marble Nativity scen in the history of art. With that masterwork, his employer, the Franciscan Pope Nicholas IV (1288 – 1292), renewed the connection to the founder of his order, Saint Francis of Assisi, who established at Greccion the spiritual tradition of Nativity scenes.

The group consists of five Carrara marble statues: Saint Joseph, the heads of the ox and the donkey, one kneeling Magi and two stanidng Magi, carved from a single block. The sculpture of the seated Mary with Child is probably a version of the late 16th century that replaced a lost original one by Arnolfo.

The Nativity scene serves as an invitation to the faithful and visitors alike to rest, to pary and to meditate on the mystery of Life and Christ present. The Holy Father Francis advises: “As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.“*

* Quoted from an information board next to the Nativity scene

The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major has dominated over the city of Rome for 16 centuries as the Marian shrine par excellence and the cradle of artistic civilization. Located at the summit of the Esquiline Hill, it is one of Rome’s four Papal Basilicas. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary indicated and inspired the construction of her abode on the Esquiline Hill. She appeared in a dream to the aristocrat, Giovanni, and to Pope Liberius, asking for the construction of a Church in her honour, in a place that She would miraculously reveal. The Miracle of the Snows is recalled each year with a solemn celebration. During the liturgy, a shower of white petals falls from the ceiling, creating an almost perfect union between the congregation and the Mother of God.

The Basilica houses the most important Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani. Tradition attributes the image to Saint Luke the Evangelist, the Patron Saint of painters. Pope Francis entrusts his Apostolic Journeys to the protection of the Salus Populi Romani, which he visits before every departure and after every return.

The relic of the Holy Crib, the manger in which Baby Jesus was laid to rest, highlights the importance of Saint Mary Major as the “Bethlehem of the West”. The first Christmas night Mass was celebrated here and Pontiffs have been keeping this tradition alive for centuries.

Among the Basilica’s most important relics are the remains of Saint Matthew and Saint Jerome.

Seven Popes are buried in the Basilica.