cassino: see casino.

Monte Cassino, monastery, in Latium, central Italy, E of the Rapido River. Situated on a hill (1,674 ft/510 m) overlooking Cassino, it was founded c.529 by St. Benedict of Nursia, whose rule became that of all Benedictine houses in the world. Monte Cassino was throughout the centuries one of the great centers of Christian learning and piety; its influence on European civilization is immeasurable (see Benedictines). Its greatest abbot after St. Benedict was Desiderius (later Pope Victor III) in the 11th cent. The buildings of the abbey were destroyed four times: by the Lombards (c.581); by the Arabs (883); by an earthquake (1349); and, after their restoration in the 17th cent., by a concentrated Allied aerial bombardment in 1944 (see Cassino). The German garrison, who had used the abbey as a fortress, survived the bombing in previously dug caves, but the buildings were flattened and most of their art treasures destroyed. A considerable part of the library's collection of invaluable manuscripts was saved by the monks. The monastery was rebuilt again after World War II.

Cassino, town (1991 pop. 32,787), in Latium, central Italy, in the Apennines, on the Rapido River. It is a commercial and agricultural center, and the site of a Fiat auto assembly plant. The peace between Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX was signed there in 1230. During World War II (late 1943) the town and the nearby Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino were strongly defended by Germans blocking the Allied advance on Rome. After five months of concentrated ground attacks and attempts to divert German troops by landings at Anzio and Nettuno, the Allies finally captured the German positions in May, 1944. Cassino was reduced to rubble but was largely rebuilt. Of note is the cathedral (18th cent., rebuilt after 1944), which contains the alleged remains of St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica. Until 1871, Cassino was called San Germano.