St. Benedict retired as a hermit (c. 494) to a cave, Sacro Speco ("Holy Grotto"), above the lakes; he founded 12 monasteries in the district before departing for Cassino.
The Allies' northward advance up the Italian peninsula to Rome was still blocked by Kesselring's Gustav Line, which was hinged on Monte Cassino.
At last he went to the south of Italy with the French forces of Louis XII, was drowned at the passage of the Garigliano River in 1503, and was buried in the cloister of Monte Cassino.
Casino, also spelled cassino, card game for two to four players, best played with two.
The first European abbey was Montecassino (see Cassino) in Italy, founded in 529 by St. Benedict of Nursia, who wrote the order that formed the basic foundation of monastic life in the Western world.
Cassino lies along the Rapido River at the foot of Monte (mount) Cassino, 87 miles (140 km) southeast of Rome.
Cassino, Latin Casinum, town, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy.
A remnant of the city below lingered on until it was abandoned by the remaining inhabitants about 866 for the present site, originally called Eulogomenopolis, later San Germano, and since 1871 Cassino.
During World War II (1944) Cassino was a key point in the German winter defensive line (Garigliano-Sangro) blocking the Allied advance to Rome.
At the beginning of January 1944 the U.S. 5th Army won a position facing Cassino across the Garigliano River.
A month later Allied aircraft dropped 1,400 tons of bombs on Cassino, leaving the town so heaped with rubble that tanks could not operate until bulldozers cleared paths for them.
