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Ummidia Quadratilla Mausoleum in Cassino: Two Thousand Years of History in a Building with No Certain Name
In the archaeological area of Cassino, on the south-eastern slopes of Montecassino, stands one of the most enigmatic Roman monuments in southern Lazio. Built in the 1st century AD within the walls of Casinum (in breach of Roman law forbidding burials inside the urban area), the Mausoleum was originally on two levels: an upper platform overlooking the Via Latina Nova, now lost, and a lower underground chamber that has survived intact through earthquakes, centuries and bombardments.
Stone upon stone, without mortar
The mortar-free structure is built of large, perfectly squared limestone blocks laid in horizontal courses and held together solely by lead clamps (graffe di piombo). The ground plan is a Greek cross with symmetrical arms and a barrel vault roof, with a hemispherical dome at the centre and four narrow slits that filtered light from above.
A name handed down, not proven
The mausoleum is traditionally attributed to Ummidia Quadratilla, benefactress of Casinum and daughter of the consul Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus, mentioned by Pliny the Younger at the time of her death in AD 107. Yet no direct evidence exists. Around the year 1000 the building was converted into a church dedicated to San Nicola (St Nicholas). At the end of the 17th century the abbot Andrea Deodato reopened it for the worship of the Crucifix (Crocifisso), a name given to the hamlet, which it still bears today. The 1944 bombings destroyed the medieval church that had grown up around the monument. The rescued frescoes are now preserved at Montecassino.
