Ciociaria: art and abbeys

The civilisation of the Volsci and the Hernican Confederation, the long period of the Roman Empire, the barbarian invasions, the mediaeval splendours of the Papal State; the little towns around Fiuggi tell 3.000 years of history. The ruins of very ancient cyclopean walls stand beside splendid Romanesque cathedrals built on top of pagan temples and acropolises. Cicero was born in Arpino, in Villa Amaltea, and it was in Anagni, the town of the Popes, that the famous “slap” was given. The Castello di Fumone housed the Amtipope Gregory VIII and Celestine V, the Pope of the “great renunciation”.

And the there are Alatri and Ferentino, which have very ancient origins, the Romans Veroli which preserves the “fasti verulani”, Aquino which was destroyed by the Lombards. Each town is an open museum, a journey into history and to the roots of our society. Montecassino Abbey, Casamari Abbey and the Carthusian Monastery of Trisulti complete this journey back in time. They remind us that the great religious centres of the past were, first and foremost, immense bastions of culture from which not only Catholicism but also, the art, the words, the values of a new civilisation were spread.

Texts and photos courtesy of A.P.T. Frosinone