What to see · Cassino

More places of interest

• Anfiteatro Romano

  The Roman amphitheatre of Cassino is one of the monuments of ancient Casinum, the Roman town whose remains lie at the foot of Montecassino, in the locality of Crocefisso. It was built in the first century AD by the matron Ummidia Quadratilla, daughter of a consul and a member of one of the most important families of the town: Pliny the Younger describes her as a very rich woman, and she also gave the town a temple.

  What to see

  The amphitheatre was built on a natural slope and is elliptical in shape: the major axis measures about eighty-five metres, the minor one sixty-nine. It could hold about four thousand five hundred spectators, arranged on twelve tiers. In the upper part there were in all probability slots, into which were fitted the poles that carried the velarium, the awning stretched to shelter the audience.

  The amphitheatre is part of the archaeological park of Casinum, whose route takes in the megalithic walls, the Porta Campana, the so-called mausoleum of Ummidia Quadratilla, the theatre and the nymphaeum, passing in several stretches over paved Roman road. Just above stands the National Archaeological Museum Gianfilippo Carettoni.

  Visiting

  The archaeological area depends on the National Archaeological Museum: times, tickets and the parts that can be visited should be checked with the museum before going.

  Our editors' tip

  The district that today lies at the foot of the amphitheatre is called «Colosseo», precisely because of its presence. And in the thirteenth century the monument was used again, but as a fortress: Manfred's men barricaded themselves in it, in an attempt to resist the Angevins. It was then an inscription found in the amphitheatre, in 1757, that led the mausoleum too to be attributed to Ummidia Quadratilla.

• Museo Archeologico Nazionale G. Carettoni

  The National Archaeological Museum Gianfilippo Carettoni stands along the road that climbs from the centre of Cassino to Montecassino, against the walls of ancient Casinum, in a position above the amphitheatre and by the so-called Porta Campana. The first stone was laid on 15 March 1966, on the anniversary of the destruction of Cassino during the Second World War; the works were badly delayed, and the museum was opened in 1979. On 12 December 2003 it was named after Gianfilippo Carettoni, the archaeologist to whom are owed fundamental studies on Casinum and the rediscovery of the Roman theatre. It is a state museum, run by the Regional Museums Directorate.

  What to see

  The route includes three rooms and a lapidarium on the lower floor; already in the garden are displayed architectural fragments, mostly from tombs, and inscriptions. The first room, octagonal, gathers prehistory and protohistory: the grave goods of the burial ground of Casinum, a Volscian necropolis of the Iron Age identified by Carettoni himself, with sixteen burials, and the Roman materials from the necropolis of Campo di Porro. In one case is the so-called «Arma Samnitium», a sword with its scabbard fused to elements of a javelin; among the oldest finds, a fragment of an elephant's molar from the Palaeolithic.

  The most important piece is the statue of the hero, of Pentelic marble, from the second half of the first century BC: a man in heroic nudity, in an attitude of rest. Carettoni found it in 1936 during the excavations of the theatre, inside the large pit of the stage.

  Visiting

  Times and tickets should be checked with the museum or on the website of the Regional Museums Directorate. With the museum you visit the archaeological area of Casinum, with the amphitheatre, a stretch of the ancient Via Latina and the tomb of Ummidia Quadratilla.

  Our editors' tip

  The statue of the hero went a long way round before coming home. In 1938 it was taken to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples; in Cassino, for years, only a cast of it could be seen. The original returned in April 2013.

• Teatro Romano

  The Roman theatre of Cassino belongs to ancient Casinum, the Roman town at the foot of Montecassino, and stands at the junction of Via Crocifisso and Via Montecassino. It dates from the Augustan age. Completely forgotten in the Middle Ages, it was brought back to light only in 1936 by the excavations of the archaeologist Gianfilippo Carettoni, after whom the nearby national archaeological museum is now named; it was restored around the fifties and again in 2001.

  What to see

  It has the semicircular layout typical of the Graeco-Roman theatre, and uses the slope of the mountain to carry twenty steps: thirteen form the lower part of the cavea, seven the upper one. The spectators reached it through a series of covered galleries, which led directly to the last step. There are about two thousand five hundred seats.

  From the theatre come two pieces now seen in the museum: a smooth column shaft of polychrome marble and, above all, the statue of the hero, of Pentelic marble, found inside the large pit of the stage. The torso was in excellent condition; the other fragments were scattered at some distance, inside and outside the stage.

  Visiting

  The theatre is part of the archaeological park of Casinum. For years it hosted shows, concerts and open-air cinema in summer, but it is also reported as closed because unsafe: before going, check with the National Archaeological Museum whether it is accessible.

  Our editors' tip

  Combine the theatre with the rest of the area: the route of the archaeological park takes in the megalithic walls, the Porta Campana, the amphitheatre, the so-called mausoleum of Ummidia Quadratilla and the nymphaeum, and in several stretches you walk on paved Roman road.

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