The Abbey of Montecassino

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:28 pm

The Abbey of Montecassino dates back to 529 AD, and considering it was built on Roman ruins municipium Casinum, even farther back than that. Before WW2, it had already been destroyed three times through the centuries; and what resulted was a mountain fortress with 40' walls that were also 10 feet thick.

It just so happened that The Abbey of Montecassino fell right along the Gustav Line, which was the Nazi defensive position blocking the road to Rome. Although the allies quarreled about attacking the religious structure, they eventually agreed that it could not be allowed to fall into German control, and unleashed a huge armada of bombers against the Abbey, reducing it to rubble.

Ironically, at the time of the bombing, the Abbey had only held refugees and monks; and even though US artillery had dropped warning leaflets into the Abbey the prior day, most stayed believing the Abbey would not actually be attacked.

In a huge miscalculation by the allies, they didnt attempt to occupy the Abbey until several days after the bombardment. By that time the Germans had entrenched themselves in the Abbey, with the rubble and remaining siege walls making for perfect cover.

The resulting Battle of Monte Cassino stretched on for months and ended up being one of the bloodiest battles of the war...

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 9:02 am

good thing they had so much experience rebuilding it, as it was rebuilt a fourth time, think it took like 13 years...