The contrast between both visits seemed apt in some way, in keeping with the peaceful calm of the present day Benedictine abbey and that most famous of battle in 1944.

The abbey majestically overlooking the town of Cassino is, for us, a series of extremes.

Firstly, there's the long and increasingly steep road to the top which gives you an idea of the remoteness of the hilltop. Only Masada in Israel gives you a similar feeling.

Then there's the realization that everything we see today was rebuilt after the Second World War.

This was a gift by the allies for a siege which, in hindsight, might have been over the top in more ways than one.

The tremendous views from the top of the mountain look out over the splendid Frosinone plain, but are broken as the eye picks out the various war cemeteries on the facing slopes.

Entering the abbey visitors are taken on a signposted tour of the museum. It takes you past fabulous medieval relics such as fragile, early prayer books and colorful ecclesiastical robes.

But the route finishes in a drab, small room. In it is a sparse collection of war detritus and harrowing photographs of the course of the battle. It all defies belief.

A bottle of herb liqueur and a bar of chocolate from the abbey shop, however, sends most people home with a smile on their face.

Historical Outline from the year 529

The Battle of Monte Cassino

For the full history of the The Abbey of Montecassino and the different periods of destructions and rebirths, read the Official Abbey site www.montecassino.it

see also the Abbey of Casamari in Ciociaria