Monte Cassino Abbey (Tomb of St. Benedict)
The burial place of St. Benedict.
St. Benedict → Plan a trip hereThe Story
The Abbey of Monte Cassino, crowning a rocky height above the town of Cassino between Rome and Naples, is the motherhouse of Western monasticism. St. Benedict of Nursia established his community here around the year 529, replacing a lingering pagan shrine with oratories dedicated to St. Martin and St. John the Baptist, and it was for this community that he composed his Rule - the brief, balanced code of prayer and work that would shape monastic life, and much of European civilization, for fifteen centuries. Benedict never left Monte Cassino; he died here around 547 and, according to the abbey's constant tradition, was buried in one grave with his twin sister, St. Scholastica, beneath what is now the high altar of the basilica. During the centuries after the Lombard sack of the abbey, a French tradition arose that the saint's relics had been carried to Fleury (Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire); Monte Cassino has always maintained that Benedict and Scholastica rest in the tomb venerated beneath its altar. Few holy places have endured such a history of destruction and rebirth. Sacked by the Lombards around 580 and by Saracens in 883, ruined by earthquake in 1349, and plundered in 1799, the abbey was almost entirely destroyed by Allied bombing on February 15, 1944, during the Battle of Monte Cassino. Rebuilt after the war on its original plans, the basilica was consecrated by Pope Paul VI in 1964, on which occasion he proclaimed St. Benedict the patron of Europe. Today Monte Cassino remains a living Benedictine community and territorial abbey. Pilgrims climb the mountain to pray at the tomb of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, walk the rebuilt cloisters, and remember both the peace of the Rule and the war dead buried on the surrounding slopes - a place where the words of its rebuilders, 'as it was, where it was,' testify that what is founded on prayer endures.
Church Recognition
Monte Cassino is a territorial abbey of the Catholic Church and the first house of the Benedictine Order; its rebuilt basilica was consecrated by Pope Paul VI in 1964, when he proclaimed St. Benedict patron of Europe, and the tomb of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica beneath the high altar is venerated by the universal Church.
Catholic Teaching
Monte Cassino stands at the source of Western monasticism, the consecrated life of prayer and work commended by the Church (CCC 918-927), and the veneration of St. Benedict's tomb expresses the communion of saints (CCC 946-962).
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Pilgrims visit the basilica and the tomb of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, the historic cloisters, and the abbey museum, with many also honoring the Polish war cemetery below the abbey; pilgrimage peaks around St. Benedict's feast on July 11 and the March 21 Benedictine commemoration of his death.
Go Deeper
The abbey's official website (https://www.abbaziamontecassino.org) provides visitor and liturgical information; read the Rule of St. Benedict, Book II of the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great (the primary life of Benedict), and the Catechism on consecrated life (CCC 918-927).
Location
Visit the official website ↗ See it on the interactive map →Pilgrim Photos
No pilgrim photos yet — be the first to share one from Monte Cassino Abbey (Tomb of St. Benedict).