 thumb|right|300px|the rebuilt abbey of monte cassino. monte cassino (sometimes written montecassino) is a rocky hill about  southeast of rome, italy,  to the west of the town of cassino (the roman casinum having been on the hill) and  altitude. st. benedict of nursia established his first monastery, the source of the benedictine order, here around 529. it was the site of the battle of monte cassino in 1944, where the building was destroyed by allied bombing and rebuilt after the war. the site has been visited many times by the popes and other senior clergy, including pope benedict xvi in may 2009. the monastery is one of the few remaining territorial abbeys within the catholic church. until his resignation was accepted by pope francis on 12 june 2013, the territorial abbot of monte cassino was pietro vittorelli.http://attualita.vatican.va/sala-stampa/bollettino/2013/06/12/news/31160.html the vatican daily bulletin of october 23, 2014 announced that with the appointment of his successor donato ogliari the territory of the abbey outside the immediate monastery grounds had been transferred to the diocese of sora-aquino-pontecorvo. ==history== ===medieval history=== according to gregory the great's biography of benedict, life of saint benedict of nursia, the monastery was constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of apollo that crowned the hill. the biography records that the area was still largely pagan at the time and benedict's first act was to smash the sculpture of apollo and destroy the altar. he then reused the temple, dedicating it to saint martin, and built another chapel on the site of the altar dedicated to saint john the baptist. archaeologist neil christie notes that it was common in such hagiographies for the protagonist to encounter areas of strong paganism. once established at monte cassino, benedict never left. there he wrote the benedictine rule that became the founding principle for western monasticism. there at monte cassino he received a visit from totila, king of the ostrogoths, perhaps in 543 (the only remotely secure historical date for benedict), and there he died. thumb|left|230px|view across the valley. monte cassino became a model for future developments. unfortunately its prominent site has always made it an object of strategic importance. it was sacked or destroyed a number of times. in 581, during the abbacy of bonitus, the lombards sacked the abbey, and the surviving monks fled to rome, where they remained for more than a century. during this time 
Benedictine_monasteries_in_Italy Christian_monasteries_established_in_the_6th_century Hills_of_Italy Rebuilt_buildings_and_structures