As we left Rome, our first stop was 80 miles south at the Abbey of Monte Cassino. This is the birthplace of the Benedictine Order and St. Benedict's first monastery, which he founded in 529 A.D.
View from the entrance of the Abbey Church.
The high altar in the Abbey Church.
The view of Monte Cassino from the Abbey.
The Crypt
Beneath this altar lay the relics (earthly remains) of St. Benedict and his blood sister, St. Scholastica who was the first female Benedictine.
