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All the United States Alabama Cullman Ave Maria Grotto

Ave Maria Grotto

A miniature city built by a single hunchbacked monk.

Cullman, Alabama

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Photo by Sarah McDonald   http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucybellecrat...
Photo by Sarah McDonald   http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucybellecrat...
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
Note the crèche center front   ArgusFoto
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  Rachel Preskitt / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Brother Joseph Zoettl was born on January 24, 1878, with a difficult life ahead of him. Hunchbacked and poor, he was only 14 when he signed up to join the St. Bernard Abbey hoping to escape his hard life.

His life stayed hard: Brother Joseph spent 17 hours a day for 30 years working in the abbey's pump house. "It became very tedious," he later said, but it was during this time that he began building models as a way to keep himself occupied. Zoettl went on to create thousands of miniatures to sell and hundreds of larger scale models to keep at the Abbey.

What began as a hobby became the Ave Maria Grotto, or "Jerusalem in Miniature," a four acre miniature city, filled with tiny versions of 125 famous and holy locations. He built the Basilica in Lourdes, his last model, at the age of 80 in 1958.

 

 

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Edited By

Mom0ja, argusfoto, someofmyorange, Collector of Experiences...

  • Mom0ja
  • argusfoto
  • someofmyorange
  • Collector of Experiences
  • Mariahwanders
  • Rachel Preskitt
  • Collinken
  • Kare zeller

Published

September 28, 2009

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Ave Maria Grotto
1600 St. Bernard Drive
Cullman, Alabama, 35055
United States
34.175345, -86.816462
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