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 […]
04 THE DIVIDED HOMELAND: THE ARMISTICE04
The armistice opened a dramatic chapter in Italian history. The army disbanded and the nation was set adrift’. A period radio broadcasts the original voice of General Badoglio announcing the armistice to the Italians. The opposite panel shows the signatures of the armistice. The artistic representation of Italy ‘exploding’ with hanging fragments represents the dismay […]
03 1914 – 1945 : EUROPE IN FLAMES
From the First World War to the Second, the European continent was gripped by feverish convulsions, by a malignant and violent impulse, animated by a confused desire for rebirth. War is no longer declared. Solemnly. Even in treaties. While new germs of disintegration run free: the myth of the race, the party, the state. The […]
02 THE ECLIPSE OF EUROPEAN CONSCIOUSNESS
The title of the room is ‘The Eclipse of European Consciousness’. The story begins with an emblematic sentence placed in the corridor leading to this room: ‘The destinies of Europe seem to meet in this land’. A monk acts as narrator, introducing us to the disturbing climate of violence that has characterised Europe since the […]
01 OUTER SPACE
THE LAND OF ST BENEDICT This is the Valley of St Benedict – His monks with the cross, the book and the plough – They brought Christian progress to the peoples – From the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, from Ireland to Poland – The work of St Benedict revived peoples and cultures, spread knowledge, regenerated economies […]
THE LAND OF ST. THOMAS
VILLA SANTA LUCIA – ancient and one of the most important granaries of the Abbey of Montecassino, it was the scene of episodes of violence against the population by German troops.TO SEE – the convent of Madonna delle Grazie, the hamlet of Piumarola with the remains of a castle, the sanctuary founded by St. Scholastica, […]