Ave Maria Grotto Tours

Final resting place for Brother Joseph, who created the art that is known as Ave Maria Grotto.This is a cemetery of only monks in residence at St. Bernard Abbey. Ave Maria Grotto, in Cullman, Alabama, is a landscaped, 4-acre park in an old quarry on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, providing a garden setting for 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures of the world. It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 24, 1976, and to the National Register of Historic Places on January 19, 1984. The stone and concrete models are the work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard's Abbey, who devoted some 50 years to the project, the last three decades (1932 to 1961) almost without interruption. They incorporate discarded building supplies, bricks, marbles, tiles, pipes, sea shells, marbles, plastic animals, costume jewellery, toilet bowl floats and cold cream jars. Born in 1878 in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Brother Joseph was maimed in an accident that left him slightly hunched due to cervical kyphosis. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, settling in northern Alabama. Soon afterward he began studying at the newly founded Benedictine monastery of St. Bernard, where he took his vows in 1897. Br. Joseph was not allowed to be ordained as a priest, due to the rule of the period that stated any man with a distracting disability could not be ordained a priest. He ran the monastery’s power plant and was, even by a monk's standards, a withdrawn, quiet man. Brother Joseph rarely left Alabama, where he died in 1961.
Final resting place for Brother Joseph, who created the art that is known as Ave Maria Grotto.This is a cemetery of only monks in residence at St. Bernard Abbey. Ave Maria Grotto, in Cullman, Alabama, is a landscaped, 4-acre park in an old quarry on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, providing a garden setting for 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures of the world. It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 24, 1976, and to the National Register of Historic Places on January 19, 1984. The stone and concrete models are the work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard's Abbey, who devoted some 50 years to the project, the last three decades (1932 to 1961) almost without interruption. They incorporate discarded building supplies, bricks, marbles, tiles, pipes, sea shells, marbles, plastic animals, costume jewellery, toilet bowl floats and cold cream jars. Born in 1878 in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Brother Joseph was maimed in an accident that left him slightly hunched due to cervical kyphosis. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, settling in northern Alabama. Soon afterward he began studying at the newly founded Benedictine monastery of St. Bernard, where he took his vows in 1897. Br. Joseph was not allowed to be ordained as a priest, due to the rule of the period that stated any man with a distracting disability could not be ordained a priest. He ran the monastery’s power plant and was, even by a monk's standards, a withdrawn, quiet man. Brother Joseph rarely left Alabama, where he died in 1961.
Moving memorials and famous monuments are often on the itinerary of many travelers. While you're in town, learn about an important part of local history at Ave Maria Grotto.

This place of remembrance is on the to-do lists of many travelers to Cullman. But Ave Maria Grotto isn't the only drawcard here. Sportsman Lake Park, Cullman County Museum, and Cullman Golf Course are some other worthwhile sights close by.

Plan a trip to see Ave Maria Grotto

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Hotel O Haven Inn Huntsville AL US 72

Hotel O Haven Inn Huntsville AL US 72

2.5 out of 5
Price was $640, price is now $540 per person
$540
per person
Apr 8 - Apr 15
found 1 day ago
Roundtrip non-stop flight included
Los Angeles (LAX) to Huntsville (HSV)
8.2/10 Very Good! (12 reviews)
Clean and quite. The lights outside stay on all night for a feeling of security.

Reviewed on Jan 14, 2026

Landing Apartments Huntsville

Landing Apartments Huntsville

4 out of 5
Price was $997, price is now $772 per person
$772
per person
Apr 8 - Apr 15
found 1 day ago
Roundtrip non-stop flight included
Los Angeles (LAX) to Huntsville (HSV)
No reviews
Placemakr Huntsville - MidCity District

Placemakr Huntsville - MidCity District

4 out of 5
Price was $790, price is now $654 per person
$654
per person
Mar 12 - Mar 16
found 1 day ago
Roundtrip non-stop flight included
Bozeman (BZN) to Huntsville (HSV)
9/10 Wonderful! (34 reviews)
I booked this room for a traveling somalia from Italy and he could not say enough wonderful things about Anthem House.

Reviewed on Jan 29, 2026

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Cobblestone Hotel & Suites - Cullman

3 out of 5
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Location! Location!<br>Minutes to all shopping and your favorites restaurant!

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Location! Location!<br>Minutes to all shopping and your favorites restaurant!
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Lowest nightly price found within the past 24 hours based on a 1 night stay for 2 adults. Prices and availability subject to change. Additional terms may apply.

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