The Benedictine Order was founded by St. Benedict around 529 AD who is currently the Patron Saint of Europe. His twin sister St. Scholastica led
a branch for the women. It was the first Order to establish set rules and has been the role model or inspiration for other monastic orders to come.

The 6th century Montecassino Monastery/Abbey stands on the remnants of a pre-existing Roman fortification of the municipium Casinum.
It underwent many restorations after being destroyed by wars over the centuries and a devastating earthquake in 1349.

It became a notorious setting in World War II when the US forces bombed this historic Abbey into total destruction. Thousands of Polish Allied
soldiers died in its defense. Many irreplaceable books and works of art - aside from holiness, the place used to be a center for learning and culture -
were lost forever. Miraculously the tomb of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica was left undamaged and they now lie under the main altar. Ironically
the bombing didn't pay off as not one enemy soldier was hit - at that crucial moment they were positioned AROUND and NOT within the building itself.
The whole place was completely rebuilt based on architectural plans that have survived. Personally I believe that the design here
is more beautiful and intricately done than St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City which is just more grand in scale.

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PHOTOBLOG (September 4, 2005 - SUNDAY): A personal encounter with an (Arch)angel ?!! :-o

The night before, the RVM sisters and I had a discussion regarding "what one should do and/or where to go visit on his last day in Italy". In lieu of
touring the rest of Rome like what we just did today - Monte Cassino instead came to mind. Because our group train ticket with its unlimited use
within a certain time frame was still valid, it therefore seemed practical to exhaust this available priviledge instead of coming back to Italy at a later
time when it may perhaps be more difficult and expensive to re-schedule a similar out-of-Rome tour with a new batch of tourmates the next time.

Today being my 2nd to the last day, I decided that after almost a month of no-frills travelling all over Europe, I was by now confident enough
to travel by train alone to the provincial town of Monte Cassino ... At the main train station it seems that I just missed the first train out ...

(... more to be uploaded soon)