The great abbeys

     The Abbey of Montecassino

The abbey was destroyed twice: the first time during the Longobard domination and again, by the Saracens, in the years when St. Vincent al Volturno suffered the same fate. After its reconstruction it experienced a period of great prosperity and artistic splendour, which reached its climax in the 11^th century. In the years when abbot Desiderio was at the head of the monastery, the Normans acquired increased power over the Longobard estates as a result of forced exchanges or usurpations.
Ugo Morino, a Norman Count who, in 1072, donated some churches to the monks “pro redemptione anima”, is a typical figure of this period.
Over the centuries the monastery experienced periods of artistic splendour alternating with periods of decline.

    The Abbey of St. Vincent al Volturno