Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, Alabama

Usually I don't tend to visit religious landmarks, but at the thought of being a giant next to the miniature buildings, I quickly rethought my landmark list and set this as a "must-see". With my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in tow, we drove to Alabama with thoughts of godzilla-like strength.



"Ave Maria Grotto, known throughout the world as "Jerusalem in Miniature," is a beautifully landscaped, four-acre park designed to provide a natural setting for the 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous historic buildings and shrines of the world. The masterpieces of stone and concrete are the lifetime work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard Abbey. Begun as a hobby, with various materials he could find, and infinite patience and a remarkable sense of symmetry and proportion, Brother Joseph re-created some of the greatest edifices of all time.

The builder of the miniatures at the Ave Maria Grotto was a Benedictine Monk--Brother Joseph Zoettl, O.S.B. Born in Landshut, Bavaria in 1878, he was maimed in an accident that gave him a hunchback, but luckily it did not hurt his ability to bend over and build the miniatures. He came to Saint Bernard Abbey in 1892. After becoming a Brother in the Benedictine Order, he was appointed to the power plant for the Abbey, and while there he developed his hobby of building miniature shrines."

The shrines are built with such meticulous detail and with things all around the house. The grotto is the epitome of recycled art!