Cimitero Militare Italiano di Cassino
Three kilometres north of Cassino, on the southern foothills of Colle Marino, a cube of pale stone marks the entrance to a hillside where more than 20,000 German soldiers are buried. The entrance building is open at the top — a deliberate choice — so that daylight falls directly onto Suse Müller-Diefenbach's sculpture, 'Mourning and Consolation', in the hall below.
The terraced cemetery spreads across the slope in dark basalt crosses, three names carved into each one, readable from every side. Among those 20,100 graves, 3,100 remain nameless — men recovered from scattered field graves and smaller cemeteries during the reburials of 1959 and 1960, identified only as far as the records allowed.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who visit more than once tend to arrive early, before tour groups from the abbey reach the valley roads. The walk between the terraces is uneven in places, so flat shoes matter more than you'd expect. Spend time at the entrance hall with the sculpture before moving onto the hillside — the light there does something the open terraces don't.
The story behind Cimitero Militare Italiano di Cassino
The German-Italian War Graves Agreement of December 1955 set in motion the creation of a permanent resting place near Cassino for German soldiers who died across southern Italy during the Second World War. Between 1959 and 1960, reburial teams from the Volksbund recovered 20,076 dead from field graves and smaller sites throughout the region, consolidating them here on the Colle Marino foothills.
The cemetery was inaugurated on 4 May 1965. It was designed by Robert Tischler and Gerd Offenberg, both chief architects of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, the German War Graves Commission. The men buried here fell across a wide arc of the Italian campaign — at the Salerno beachhead, along the Adriatic retreat, and in the four-month battle for Cassino and the Benedictine monastery on the ridge above.
Good to know
The cemetery is at Via Colle Marino 1, Cassino-Caira — a short drive or taxi from central Cassino. Admission is free. Spring and autumn offer the most comfortable temperatures for walking the terraced hillside. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge website carries current opening hours.
The hillside is fully exposed, so summer visits — July and August are the driest months — call for water and sun protection. May, June, September and October sit in a comfortable middle range, roughly 21–25°C, and the light on the basalt crosses is clearest in the lower-angle sun of morning or late afternoon.
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What travellers say about Cimitero Militare Italiano di Cassino
This solemn, peaceful ground lies in the shadow of Monte Cassino. Many who lie here do so because they were part of the effort to capture and secure the mountaintop monastery that looks down upon them now. The cemetery grounds are immaculate and well kept. It would take hours to read the inscriptions on the stones and monuments.
A deeply moving and impeccably maintained place of remembrance. Standing among the thousands of Commonwealth fallen as well as the lone fallen Soviet soldier. Left to rest or commemorated here brings home the immense human cost of war and the Battle of Monte Cassino. Recommend to visit and just read the names of some of the men who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
My wife and I were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit this well-kept cemetery several years ago. Needless to say, it was a very moving experience to read the headstones of the young soldiers buried here. Many years later, I still become teary-eyed on Remembrance Day when reminiscing this visit. Thank you to all the soldiers from all nationalities who sacrificed their lives to defeat the enemy. May we never forget the dire effects of wars.
I booked a room nearby the Commonwealth War Cemetary, and the owner suggested I visit on my way out of town. I stopped by and truly did not have any expectations. But I was blown away by the beauty and overwhelmed by the significance of this memorial. Very inspirational and very well-documented exhibits.
This was a great day with a visit to the very impressive sacred hilltop monastery of Monte Cassino. The entire area was the scene of a series of four bloody WW2 battles that cost 55,000 allied casualties. Over 4,271 of them never made it home and are buried here in the beautifully kept but sombre setting of the Cassino War Cemetary. Viewing these ‘fields of stone’ is always very emotional for me as I have two uncles resting in them in Belgium and France.
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