An Iowa priest vowed to build a shrine if he survived pneumonia; after recovering, he spent 42 years using over 100 train carloads of stone to create it
- In the late 19th century, a young seminarian battling a life-threatening bout of pneumonia made a promise that would eventually transform a small Iowa town into the home of one of the world's largest man-made grottos.
- If he survived, Father Paul Matthias Dobberstein vowed to build a shrine in honour of the Virgin Mary.
- He recovered and more than a century later, the promise he made has become a vast monument of stone, minerals, fossils and religious art in West Bend, Iowa.
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- In the late 19th century, a young seminarian battling a life-threatening bout of pneumonia made a promise that would eventually transform a small Iowa town into the home of one of the world's largest man-made grottos.
- If he survived, Father Paul Matthias Dobberstein vowed to build a shrine in honour of the Virgin Mary.
- He recovered and more than a century later, the promise he made has become a vast monument of stone, minerals, fossils and religious art in West Bend, Iowa.
Sources: Times of India