Co-cathedral of Aquino

The territorial abbey of Monte Cassino was founded by Benedict of Nursia in 529 on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo. It is the cradle of the Benedictine order. It served as a retreat for sovereigns and pontiffs such as the Frankish prince Carloman, brother of Pepin the Short, the Lombard king Ratchis, and Saint Gregory. Containing immense riches, including a precious library, it is partly placed under the protection of Rome, with a gallery of precious paintings. Throughout the Middle Ages, the abbey was a lively cultural centre thanks to its abbots, libraries, archives, writing and illumination schools, which transcribed and preserved many works of antiquity. The abbey was destroyed during the Second World War and was rebuilt identically from 1948 to 1956.

The monastery of San Domenico has been a Benedictine abbey since 1011, and a Cistercian priory since 1222. Monastic life ceased in 1653, but the monastery was repopulated by the Casamari in 1833 and still exists today. The monastery's church has been a parish church since 1935 and has held the title of minor basilica since the celebration of the millennium in 2011. The Cistercian character of the church has been preserved despite the damage caused by earthquakes.

The date of construction of the church of San Bartolomeo is not yet known, but the discovery of an 11th century single-light window in the centre of the apse wall confirms the pre-existing Romanesque architectural structure. The current façade, which replaces the pre-existing baroque façade, already remodelled after the earthquake of 24 July 1654, is in neoclassical style and reproduces the layout of a Greek tetrastyle temple, with a nave flanked by a pair of false bell towers placed at the end of the façade itself. The interior of the church was embellished and took on its present configuration between the 16th and 18th centuries.