Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, Alabama
from a postcard
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In 1892 Joseph Zoetl left Bavaria to enroll as a student at the new St. Bernard's Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. While helping build the campus, he injured his spine. | Little Jerusalem
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After taking vows in 1910, Bro. Joe worked in the Abbey power house shoveling coal. He began making miniature buildings for the gardens. | |
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In the 1920s, when the garden grew too full of replicas and visitors, Bro. Joe turned to making small plaster shrines for private devotion instead. | Main grotto interior
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Relocated to a hillside further from the Abbey, Bro. Joe's replicas surrounded his large Ave Maria Grotto when it opened to the public in 1934. | |
Tower of Babel |
Bro. Joe continued working in the power house and adding to the landscape for decades. He died in 1961 at 82. | To
get there
The Abbey is SE of
Cullman & the junction of US Rts. 31 & 278.
From I-65 take exit 308 & go 4 miles east. |
Open
daily Closed Christmas. Admission charged. |
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| Shrine's website: www.avemariagrotto.com | ||||
