Dickeyville Grotto facts for kids
The Dickeyville Grotto is a super cool place in Dickeyville, Wisconsin, USA. It's a collection of unique cave-like structures and special displays called shrines. You can find it where two big roads, U.S. Highway 151 and U.S. Highway 61, meet. Most of these amazing concrete structures are covered in all sorts of interesting materials like shiny shells, colorful stones, tiny tiles, wood, sparkling glass, pretty gems, and geodes. These materials were given by people from the area. Lots of visitors come to see the Grotto every year, usually between 40,000 and 60,000 people!
Contents
The Story Behind the Dickeyville Grotto
How It All Started
The Dickeyville Grotto was built by a kind priest named Father Mathius Wernerus. He was the pastor of the Holy Ghost Parish in Dickeyville. He worked on this incredible project for ten years, from 1920 to 1930. It was later given a fresh look and repaired between 1995 and 1997, so it continues to be beautiful for everyone to enjoy.
What You Can See at the Grotto
The Grotto has many different parts, each with its own special meaning. Some of the main areas include:
- The Grotto of the Blessed Virgin
- The Christ the King Shrine
- The Grotto of the Sacred Heart
- The Eucharistic Altar
- The Holy Ghost Tree
- The Patriotism Shrine
- The Crucifixion Group
Most of these parts are religious, showing important stories and figures from faith.
A Special Shrine for Patriotism
One unique part of the Grotto is the Patriotism Shrine. This shrine is a bit different because it features famous American figures like Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. It was built to show that people of the Catholic faith were also very loyal to the United States. Back then, some people thought that Catholics might be more loyal to the Pope (the leader of the Catholic Church) than to their own country. Father Wernerus wanted to make it clear that Catholics were proud Americans too!
Other Amazing Grottoes That Inspired This One
The Dickeyville Grotto might have been inspired by another famous grotto called the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. A man named Paul Dobberstein started building that grotto in 1912 and kept working on it for many years. Father Wernerus went to St. Francis Seminary and might have seen an earlier grotto built by Dobberstein there, which could have given him the idea for his own project.
The Dickeyville Grotto also inspired other artists! For example, Paul and Matilda Wegner created their own grotto in Cataract, Wisconsin, and Mollie Jenson made her "Art Exhibit" in River Falls, Wisconsin, after seeing the beauty of Dickeyville.
