Ave Maria Grotto: Opastetut kierrokset ja aktiviteetit

Final resting place for Brother Joseph, who created the art that is known as Ave Maria Grotto.This is a cemetery of only monks in residence at St. Bernard Abbey.

Ave Maria Grotto, in Cullman, Alabama, is a landscaped, 4-acre park in an old quarry on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, providing a garden setting for 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures of the world. It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 24, 1976, and to the National Register of Historic Places on January 19, 1984.

The stone and concrete models are the work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard's Abbey, who devoted some 50 years to the project, the last three decades (1932 to 1961) almost without interruption. They incorporate discarded building supplies, bricks, marbles, tiles, pipes, sea shells, marbles, plastic animals, costume jewellery, toilet bowl floats and cold cream jars.

Born in 1878 in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Brother Joseph was maimed in an accident that left him slightly hunched due to cervical kyphosis. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, settling in northern Alabama. Soon afterward he began studying at the newly founded Benedictine monastery of St. Bernard, where he took his vows in 1897. Br. Joseph was not allowed to be ordained as a priest, due to the rule of the period that stated any man with a distracting disability could not be ordained a priest. He ran the monastery’s power plant and was, even by a monk's standards, a withdrawn, quiet man. Brother Joseph rarely left Alabama, where he died in 1961.

Koe Ave Maria Grotto

Activities

Cullman – matkaopas

Suositut vierailukohteet

Bit of. A hick in but man is it gorgeous !

Hurricane Creek Park

Tutki luontoa kohteessa Falkville sijaitsevalla ihastuttavalla viheralueella Hurricane Creek Park. Kävele järvimaisemissa tai tutustu alueen vesiputouksiin.

This 270 ft covered bridge was built in 1921 and the only remaining bridge of it's kind in Cullman County. It was used mainly by farmers. It spans the Crooked Creek, site of Civil War Skirmishes under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Many relics have been found around this creek and can be viewed at the museum just down the road. This bridge is open to foot traffic and also offers picnic areas and walking trails. An old water mill is located on the property too. #roadtrip

Clarksonin katettu silta

Ota selvää kohteen Cullman paikallisesta historiasta, kun vierailet kohteessa Clarksonin katettu silta. Kävele alueen järvimaisemissa.

Smith Lake Park (puisto)

Tutki luontoa kohteessa Trimble sijaitsevalla ihastuttavalla viheralueella Smith Lake Park (puisto). Kävele alueen järvimaisemissa.

Larkwood Falls

Kun lomailet kohteessa Cullman, sinun kannattaa lähteä tutkimaan luontoa kohteeseen Larkwood Falls. Kävele alueen järvimaisemissa.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Church

Kun olet vieraillut kohteessa Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, sinun kannattaa järjestää aikaa myös muille nähtävyyksille ja aktiviteeteille kohteessa Cullman. Kävele alueen järvimaisemissa.