This is the heart of the Land of the Paths

The Way of Saint Benedict is "a key" for discovering that territory of Southern Lazio which is common to the southern part of the current provinces of Frosinone and Latina.

Saint Benedict arrived in this territory in 529 and on the hill overlooking the lower Liri Valley, he built the Abbey of Montecassino and wrote the Rule "Ora et Labora" here. However you arrive here, you cannot help but feel the same joy and wonder for what you will see with your eyes and what you will feel inside you.

The territory he discovered, which welcomed him until his death in March 547, is indeed certainly fascinating, both for its shape and its history. You can discover it by following the paths that cross it, some of which have become Pilgrimage Routes or even European Cultural Itineraries.

The areas where you can revisit history and experience it directly by visiting the places are all concentrated before your gaze. The historical phases that have traversed them are at least six:

1. prehistory, during which dinosaurs lived in this territory. You will find traces on rocks and their history in museums,
2. the history of the Italic Peoples when the Volsci, the Aurunci, the Samnites alternated on this territory, but the Etruscans also passed through. You will find their history in the museums you visit,
3. the history of the Romans, who, having defeated the Samnites, settled over the entire territorial band that goes from Montecassino to the islands of Ventotene and Ponza. You will find archaeological areas and museums distributed everywhere, and you can tread the white slabs of ancient Roman roads, sit in amphitheaters and attend summer performances there,
4. the history of the Lombards and the Benedictine Monks who coexisted during the medieval period and collaborated in the process of fortification that still shapes the existing municipalities today. You can visit the remaining castles, but you will also enjoy the ruins and arches of ancient houses,
5. the history of World War II that here upset the face of the earth and left military cemeteries of the peoples who fought along the Gustav Line, now included in what is called "the great Path of Memory." You can visit the Polish Cemetery, the German Cemetery and the Commonwealth Cemetery, and the nearby ones, the French and Italian or the English one,
6. the recent history of the industrialization of the territory, thanks to the establishment of Fiat and its supply chain, the paper mills and the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (UNICAS). Here you can participate in the International Fair of Ergonomics of the Paths that will be held from October 2024 in honor of Saint Benedict, who was appointed Patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI on October 24, 1964.