The Dickeyville Grotto – Dickeyville, Wisconsin - Atlas Obscura
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The Dickeyville Grotto

Dickeyville, Wisconsin

A tribute to the twin ideals of religion and patriotism, built by a Catholic priest from rocks, glass, and innumerable found items. 

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Tribute to Christopher Columbus, “Discoverer of America.” camp33710 (Atlas Obscura User)
So many details and so many colorful rocks of every different kind!
Tribute to Christopher Columbus, “Discoverer of America.” camp33710 (Atlas Obscura User)
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The Dickeyville Grotto and shrines erected in the village of Dickeyville, Wisconsin on the Holy Ghost Parish grounds are the works of Father Matthias Wernerus, a Catholic Priest, Pastor of the Parish from 1918 to 1931. His handiwork in stone, built from 1925-1930, is dedicated to the unity of two great American ideals - love of God and love of Country.

It is a creation in stone, mortar and bright colored objects-collected materials from all over the world constructed without the use of blueprints. They include colored glass, gems, antique heirlooms of pottery or porcelain, stalagmites and stalactites, sea shells, starfish, petrified sea urchins and fossils, and a variety of corals, amber glass, agate, quartz, ores, such as iron, copper and lead, fool’s gold, rock crystals, onyx, amethyst and coal, petrified wood and moss.

There are several shrines in the Grotto garden. Besides the main shrine (which houses the Grotto of the Blessed Virgin), there is a patriotic shrine, the sacramental shrine of the Holy Eucharist, the Sacred Heart shrine, Christ the King shrine, Fatima shrine, and the Stations of the Cross. These shrines are located in a beautiful floral garden area surrounding the Holy Ghost Church.

follies and grottoes outsider architecture sacred spaces
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