15 HOMAGE TO THE LAND OF THE MARTYROLOGY
The last room is a tribute to a land that has found the strength to rise again and become a universal model. The sculpture by Master Carlo Rambaldi, made from “poor” materials, is able to strongly evoke the theme of rebirth. On the walls, panels illustrate the main phases of the reconstruction of the city […]
14 THE REBIRTH DREAM
By reweaving the threads of memory, by rediscovering the sacredness of consciousness, life resumes a normal flow, trying to recover everyday life. It is the hour of reconstruction. On the big screen, a film tells of the great capacity of this land to rise from the ruins and find the way to rebuild itself.
13 AFTER THE WAR. LEAVE OR STAY?
A large art installation shows a suitcase crammed with clothes and locked in an iron cage.After the war, the piles of rubble and the disbelief at what had happened remain. With the radical destruction of many centres, there are no more landmarks, nothing to save, nothing to restore. Nothing to remind us of the recent […]
12 WITNESSES OF HELL
The events of war contaminate those who are part of it. The civilian population was overwhelmed and indelibly scarred by the war. But not everyone fell victim to disorientation and despair. Through the memories of contemporary witnesses, it is possible to reconstruct a history of violence and pain, but also of gestures of solidarity. Whispers […]
11 TERRITORY AND STRATEGIES
From 15 January to 18 May 1944, the Allies confronted the Germans to conquer Cassino and the Abbey, military operations known as the Four Battles of Cassino. The fierce resistance put up by the Germans at Cassino attracted worldwide attention. The strategy and military tactics of the two opposing armies are still studied today in […]
10 WHY THE BATTLES OF CASSINO
In this room there is a large optical theatre that summarises the military situation, the objectives and the strategies of the battle lines in the area on the eve of the attack on Cassino. The setting is nocturnal and dominated by the Abbey of Montecassino. Two colonels, a German and an American, explain their military […]
09 THE FORCES IN PLAY
This room is the first of three rooms dedicated to military operations and, in particular, to the strategic role of Monte Cassino as the guardian of the road to Rome. Twelve nationalities and an exceptional deployment of means and men fought in this region. Belgians, Canadians, French with Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian and Senegalese troops, British […]
07 THE DESTRUCTION OF TERRITORY
Before and after the destruction of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, all the surrounding villages were subjected to terrible bombardments. Most of them were literally razed to the ground. One by one, the villages were bombed to drive out the German troops and then conquered, but the soldiers found only rubble and corpses. The panel […]
06 THE BREACHED SYMBOL
The destruction of the abbey means the end of illusions. The people were helpless witnesses to the violation of an inviolable symbol. The film, shown on a large screen to the accompaniment of Verdi’s Dies Ire, shows the shock and the harsh reality of the ruins. The strength of the film lies in the point […]
05 A LAND BETWEEN TWO FIRES
The epicentre of the narrative shifts to the history of Cassino and the martyr villages: the protagonist is the war. On 10 September 1943, just before 9 a.m., the Allied bombers, the Flying Fortresses, appeared over Cassino. It was immediately clear that this air raid would not be an isolated incident. The area was suddenly […]