At first glance, sculptures throughout Ave Maria Grotto recall the human hands that built them. Look closer, and these figures may evoke tranquility that some say is often missing from today’s noisy, complex world.
Named after a common Catholic prayer, the religious site and roadside attraction is found off Interstate 65, halfway between Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama, at Cullman’s Saint Bernard Abbey. Visitors who take the quarter-mile walking path will find more than 125 miniature folk art pieces placed throughout the former rock quarry nicknamed Little Jerusalem, including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, Noah’s ark, the tower of Babel, shrines to the baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and catholic churches from around the world.
The grotto, which means ‘cave’ in Italian, is reminiscent of shrines and sanctuaries created to honor religious figures around the world. It also features models of notable places such as the Alamo, the Roman colosseum and the Great Wall of China. Visitors can enjoy these throughout the four-acre forested park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Brother Joseph Zoettl, who came to Cullman from the Bavaria region of Germany in the late 1800s to help establish Saint Bernard Abbey for the town’s growing German immigrant population, constructed most of the models at Ave Maria Grotto. After a back injury prevented him from becoming a priest, he took up creating the displays as a hobby.
“Insomnia from back pain caused Brother Joseph to be up a lot of the night building these structures,” Ave Maria Grotto director Roger Steele said. Brother Zoettl, who is said to have been four foot 10 inches tall and hunchbacked from the injury, worked up to 17 hours a day at the Abbey’s coal-fired plant and sold miniature grottos on the side. In 1934, the site at the abbey opened as a permanent attraction, with Zoettl put in charge of his creations.
With a great memory from studying pictures in books and postcards, and his self-taught knowledge of cement-making, Zoettl created the numerous replica structures from leftover construction materials and household items such as jewelry and cold cream jars.
“Brother Joseph was untrained, but he had a love for making things with cement,” Steele said. “He had access to magazines, books, especially those of a religious nature, and viewed pictures of cathedrals from across the world, and he used those images and was able to reproduce them.” Zoettl did his work over a 40 year period, with his final creation—France’s Church of Lourdes—coming in 1958 at age 80. After his death in 1961, Leo Schwaiger, the Abbey’s handyman, cared for Zoettl’s work for many years until his retirement in 2014. Schwaiger created five additional miniature shrines at the grotto.
Ave Maria Grotto receives between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors each year from around the globe. Single-day and two-month visitation records were set last November and December due to the popularity of the annual Christmas at the Grotto, which coincided with Cullman’s popular Christkindlmarkt, a traditional German-style Christmas market with a name that combines Christ child, Christkind, and market. It featured high-energy carnival rides, authentic German food, the market similar to traditional German advent markets, and the largest Christmas pyramid in North America.
“At Christmas … that old world soul comes fully alive that makes Cullman genuinely unlike anywhere else in the South,” says Jordan Meggs, director of marketing and public relations for Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism. Visitors can stroll the grotto and view thousands of decorated lights and shrines.
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Resident monks help maintain the grotto and give personal tours with advance notice, and visitors can buy baked goods from the monastery’s kitchen at the gift shop.
Don’t miss the opportunity to greet Hildegard, a cat who adds a comforting presence to the park.
Throughout the year, Saint Bernard Abbey hosts a Spring Blooming Festival in April, and, depending on the year, a Fall Crafts Fair or a Blues and BBQ Festival that alternate between September and October. During these events, the grotto is open to the public. The abbey also offers overnight accommodations at the monastery’s retreat and conference center.
Grants from the Kohler Foundation, the Alabama Arts Council and the Alabama Historical Commission help preserve Brother Zoettl’s work from the elements. “Our goal is to maintain the structures,” Steele said.
Future plans include updating the grotto’s electrical capacity for Christmas events, adding more nighttime activities, and planting more spring flowers for an Easter program.
“People come to the grotto to find a place of peace, security, and tranquility in a world full of conflict,” Steele said. He said most visitors voice no particular religious beliefs.
Ave Maria Grotto offers a glimpse of one monk’s humble gift to society, and the idea that his simple creations can help people find solace. “Our goal is to offer a sense of peace and hope beyond whatever they are struggling with, and that there is something better in store than what the world is currently offering. We want visitors to carry that sense of peace to other people,” Steele said.
Go visit
Ave Maria Grotto is located at 1600 St. Bernard Drive Southeast in Cullman, Alabama. Admission is $12 for adults, with reduced rates for seniors and children. The property is not wheelchair-accessible. To learn more, visit avemariagrotto.com.