ATTIMI Facilitato – VeasyTour

ATTIMI SOSPESI

Cassino (FR)

People Hall

Attimi Sospesi è un progetto di storytelling e valorizzazione della storia e delle memorie della città di Cassino. Gli attimi sospesi raccontati sono quelli del salvataggio delle opere d’arte e delle vite segnate dai tragici eventi avvenuti tra Settembre 1943 e Maggio 1944. Sospese le vite di chi ha vissuto quei momenti, rapidi gli attimi di chi, in quel fragore, ha messo in salvo le opere d’arte conservate nell’Abbazia di Montecassino prima del bombardamento del 15 febbraio ’44. Un racconto a più voci: spettacolo dal vivo, cortometraggio e percorso interattivo-immersivo che dall’Atelier si muove nella città ed arriva fino all’Abbazia. Diari, scritti, testi, articoli di giornale, memorie, foto, filmati, interviste. Tanto il materiale collezionato, raccolto e selezionato. Materiale ancora pulsante che Attimi Sospesi rende vivo e restituisce ai visitatori per mantenere accesa la memoria di quegli attimi, di quei mesi. La storia di Cassino ci conduce in parallelo a pensare a tutte le città che ancora oggi sono rase al suolo dalla guerra, dove patrimoni culturali e sociali sono sepolti sotto le macerie e, forse, andati perduti per sempre. Attimi Sospesi diventa porta della memoria, un viaggio per vivere i ricordi, interpretare il presente e agire sul domani.

Attimi Sospesi is a storytelling project that celebrates the history and memories of the city of Cassino. The suspended moments recounted are those of the rescue of artworks and the lives marked by the tragic events between September 1943 and May 1944. The lives of those who lived through those moments were suspended, the fleeting moments of those who, amidst the turmoil, saved the artworks preserved in the Abbey of Montecassino prior to February 15, 1944's bombing. A multi-voiced tale: a live performance, a short film, and an interactive- immersive tour that begins in the Atelier and continues through the city to the Abbey. Diaries, writings, texts, newspaper articles, memoirs, photos, films, and interviews: so much material has been collected, gathered, and selected. Still vibrant material that Attimi Sospesi brings to life and returns to visitors to keep the memory of those moments, those months, alive. Cassino's history leads us to think of all the cities still razed to the ground by war today, where cultural and social heritage lies buried under rubble and, perhaps, lost forever. Attimi Sospesi becomes a gateway to memory, a journey to experience memories, interpret the present, and act on tomorrow.

Reconstruction of the People Hall

An interactive experience that recounts the bombing period through historical photographs and testimonies from Cassino residents.

Essential chronology of the bombings

The inhabitants of Cassino after the bombings

The historical protagonists of the short film “AttimiSospesi” screened in the next room

Treasure Room

Telling so as not to forget, telling with our bodies and faces the history and the many stories that have inhabited these places.

Short film

In October 1943, even the Abbey of Montecassino, with the treasures it holds, could have been hit by Allied bombing. The video tells this gripping yet painful story through the words, gestures, and gazes of the protagonists. Crucial moments, tormented decisions that allowed much of this treasure to be saved and returned to the Italian and world community after the war.

Show

Cassino between September 1943 and May 1944. Months of fire, death, and devastation on the Gustav Line; trapped between Germans and Americans. Cassino tells its story, so that at least a word may remain amidst the rubble. And so every narrative bears witness to everything that happened. Every story is a fragment of a memory that must be preserved. Every life is a work of art. Narration, dance, and video mapping intertwine in a war scenario that fragments a community, the social, historical, and cultural heritage of a city, a country.

Telling so as not to forget, telling with our bodies and faces the history and the many stories that have inhabited these places.
Short film
In October 1943, even the Abbey of Montecassino, with the treasures it holds, could have been hit by Allied bombing. The video tells this gripping yet painful story through the words, gestures, and gazes of the protagonists. Crucial moments, tormented decisions that allowed much of this treasure to be saved and returned to the Italian and world community after the war.
Show
Cassino between September 1943 and May 1944. Months of fire, death, and devastation on the Gustav Line; trapped between Germans and Americans. Cassino tells its story, so that at least a word may remain amidst the rubble. And so every narrative bears witness to everything that happened. Every story is a fragment of a memory that must be preserved. Every life is a work of art. Narration, dance, and video mapping intertwine in a war scenario that fragments a community, the social, historical, and cultural heritage of a city, a country.

Reconstuction of the Treasure Room

Trailer for the short film Attimisospesi

Trailer for the show Frammenti

The vanished city Room

After the intense bombing, Cassino and Montecassino were reduced to rubble. We are immersed in destruction: buildings, people, and stories shattered but not forgotten, brought back to the present by the large collage of vintage photos on the walls and by virtual reality. And from so much destruction, fragments of a forgotten history emerge: the original floor of the Abbey, brought to light by the bombing. From past to present, the AttimiSospesi app takes us outside, through Cassino to Montecassino.

Reconstruction of the vanished city room

External tour of the lost sites of Cassino and Montecassino.

Collage of vintage photos: Cassino and Montecassino on Liberation Day.

The ancient abbey floor that emerged after the bombing of Montecassino.

Virtual reality reconstruction of some of Cassino's lost places.

Manzoni Theater

The theatre, designed at the beginning of 1863 and built between 1873 and 1875, was called "the wonder of the country". A performance by Ermete Zacconi opened it. The building, born from the reuse of the disused railway station, became a space housing the city hall, teacher training institute and State high school with a courtyard in the centre that served as a sports ground. The entrance to the theatre remained on the smaller side. Until 1943 it was the propelling centre of Cassino with frequent conferences, conventions, and quality shows. The Second World War completely destroyed it.

The new Manzoni Theater in Gregorio Diamare Square in Cassino

Manzoni theater before the bombings

Plan of the Manzoni theatrer

Railway station

Ermete Zacconi

Rocca Janula

La fortificazione fu costruita, con funzione difensiva e di piazza d’armi, intorno alla metà del X secolo dall’abate Aligerno su una rupe situata ai piedi dell’arroccato insediamento monastico, luogo dal quale si domina la vallata del fiume Rapido nel punto in cui confluisce nel bacino del Liri. Demolita nel 1221 da Federico II, fu ricostruita dall’imperatore stesso a seguito della Pace di San Germano del 1230. La costruzione, a pianta quadrangolare, si adatta, per la sua perimetrazione, alla conformazione dell’aspra collina. Nel cortile interno domina, sulle rovine del maniero ,la massiccia torre centrale a pianta pentagonale, alta oltre 20 metri, costruita dall’abate Gerardo. Entrando nel primo cortile, si notano i resti della cappella, che lo stesso abate Gerardo aveva fatto costruire insieme alla residenza ad uso dell’abate. Durante il secondo conflitto mondiale fu sede di aspri combattimenti.

This fortification was built, with a defensive function and a fortress square, by the abbot Aligerno around the middle of the 10th century. It was located on a cliff at the foot of the perched monastic settlement, which overlooks the valley of the Rapido river at the point where it flows into the Liri basin. Demolished in 1221 by Frederick II, it was rebuilt by the same emperor, following the Peace of San Germano in 1230. The building, with a quadrangular plan, adapts, due to its perimeter, to the conformation of the rugged hill. In the inner courtyard dominates, over the ruins of the manor, the massive central tower built by the abbot Gerardo. This has a pentagonal layout and is over 20 meters high. Entering the first courtyard, it is possible to see the remains of the chapel. Abbot Gerardo had this built together with a residence to be used by himself. During the Second World War, this was a site of fierce fighting.

Rocca Janula

Rocca Janula - 1944

Historical drawing

Plant of the Rocca

Federico II

The abbey of Montecassino

In 529 San Benedetto founded the monastery, destroyed by the Lombards in 577 and rebuilt round 718. It was then destroyed by the Saracens in 883. The abbey, having risen again, from the tenth and eleventh centuries became an institution of great economic and spiritual prestige. In its scriptorium many works were copied, even of classical authors. Today it preserves the oldest documents in the vernacular, illuminated manuscripts and rare books. Abbot Desiderio had the abbey church rebuilt between 1066 and 1071. However, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1349. In the XVIII century the abbey assumed its baroque style maintained until 1944, when the Anglo-Americans razed it to the ground. it was rebuilt according to the principle "where it was, as it was".