The Grotto, Portland
Tucked away in Northeast, the Grotto is 62-acre stunning cave chapel carved into volcanic rock.
And beyond the religious art, you’ll find a hidden network of trails, native plant gardens, and peaceful spots that even non-religious visitors keep coming back to.
Here are more interesting facts about it.
A boy’s promise created this place
The Grotto exists because of a prayer made by a scared young boy.
When Father Ambrose Mayer was a child in Kitchener, Ontario, he found out his mother might die after giving birth.
He ran to his local church and promised God he’d do something big for the Church if she lived. Both his mom and baby sister survived, and years later, he kept that promise by building The Grotto.
You can walk a path from medieval France
In the upper garden, you’ll find a labyrinth made of red bricks that’s an exact copy of the famous medieval one at Chartres Cathedral in France.
Unlike a maze with dead ends, this circular path is designed for peaceful walking meditation. Back in medieval times, Christians who couldn’t travel to Jerusalem would walk labyrinths like this one as a symbolic pilgrimage.
The original Chartres labyrinth, built around 1201, is 42.28 feet (12.9 meters) across and creates a 261-meter path when you walk from the entrance to the center.
The Grotto’s version follows these exact measurements and patterns.
Portland’s youngest volcano houses this place
The impressive cliff that makes up The Grotto’s main feature comes from volcanic activity.
The sanctuary sits on Rocky Butte, an extinct cinder cone that’s Portland’s youngest volcano at 97,000 years old.
It’s part of the Boring Volcanics, a group of shield volcanoes in the Portland area. The 110-foot basalt cliff that holds the sanctuary’s famous cave formed during this volcanic activity.
The cliff face at The Grotto is made of columnar basalt, which forms when thick lava cools slowly, creating distinct six-sided patterns. From the upper level, you can see up to 50 miles on clear days, including Mount St. Helens in Washington State.
Prize-winning modern building tops the cliff
The Marilyn Moyer meditation chapel, built in 1991, is a modern granite and glass building that’s won many national and international architecture awards.
Its north wall is all glass, giving you an amazing view of the Columbia River Valley and Mount St. Helens – quite different from the traditional religious buildings found elsewhere on the grounds.
Portland theater owner Tom Moyer paid for the chapel in memory of his wife Marilyn. The building is 1,500 square feet and hangs over the cliff edge to maximize the view. Drivers on Interstate 205 can spot its dramatic outline from the highway.
Inside, you’ll find comfortable armchairs instead of church pews, encouraging visitors to spend time meditating while enjoying the panoramic views through the glass wall.
Vandals attacked sacred statues in 2012
In 2012, The Grotto suffered a disturbing attack. On November 30, vandals broke in overnight and badly damaged several statues.
They beheaded statues of Joseph and baby Jesus, and knocked over a Virgin Mary statue, removing its head too. These damaged pieces were centuries-old Carrara marble from Italy.
The attackers specifically targeted five statues during their break-in. Workers found one statue head—the Virgin Mary’s—placed on a post at the west end of the property, but the others stayed missing.
Father Jack Topper, who ran The Grotto then, said the attack felt like “having your baby hurt.” After this incident, The Grotto added better security cameras and lighting throughout the grounds.
Art experts carefully restored the damaged statues or replaced them with new pieces made from the same Italian Carrara marble.
Sacred paintings from around the world
St. Anne’s Chapel holds a special art collection you won’t find anywhere else nearby.
This pretty red brick chapel, built in 1934, displays reproductions of Madonna paintings from around the world, showing how different cultures have portrayed Mary throughout history.
The small building gives you an intimate space to view these diverse artistic interpretations. This chapel was built specifically to host the first Marian Congress ever held in the United States.
The collection includes over 25 reproductions of Madonnas painted in various cultural styles from five continents.
Italian wood carvings tell Mary’s story
The Via Matris displays showcase remarkable craftsmanship with an interesting history. These 34 detailed wood carvings by Professor Heider from Pietralba, Italy, follow the “Way of the Sorrowful Mother.”
Though originally painted in bright colors, they’ve been restored to their natural wood finish. The carvings show the seven sorrows of Mary, from Simeon’s prophecy to Jesus’ burial.
Each scene took over 100 hours to carve by hand using traditional Italian woodworking methods. Professor Heider, who studied at the famous Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, finished the set in 1927 specifically for The Grotto.
You can follow the story in order as you walk along the path where they’re arranged. In 1965, experts removed the original paint after discovering it was harming the wood.
A pope gave this place his blessing
Pope Pius XI personally blessed The Grotto project in a letter to Father Mayer before construction began.
This official papal endorsement gave The Grotto special status that few American religious sites have received.
The blessing helped establish the sanctuary’s importance within the Catholic Church from the very beginning. The papal blessing came in 1923 and offered special spiritual benefits to anyone who helped build the sanctuary.
You can find the original letter from Pope Pius XI preserved in The Grotto’s archives. In 1934, the Pope sent another blessing for the 700th anniversary of the Servite Order and dedicated a bronze statue of Our Sorrowful Mother placed at the top of the bluff.
This connection to the Pope helped The Grotto become a national shrine in 1983, making it one of just 85 national sanctuaries in the United States.
Plant paradise with thousands of species
Walking through The Grotto’s grounds, you’ll discover over 2,300 different plant species across its 62 acres.
As the elevator recording tells visitors, this diverse botanical collection mixes native Pacific Northwest plants with varieties from around the world.
The Rose Garden alone features 65 different rose varieties, all cared for by volunteers. If you explore the Peace Garden, you’ll find 1.5 acres of carefully designed flowerbeds surrounding two reflective ponds connected by a stream.
The grounds showcase more than 40 different kinds of rhododendrons, including some rare types. Three full-time plant experts maintain everything using earth-friendly gardening practices.
Since 2010, they’ve used rainwater collection systems that gather 12,000 gallons of water each year for watering the plants.
First American Marian Congress happened here
St. Anne’s Chapel played an important role in Catholic history. Built in 1934, this small chapel hosted the first Marian Congress ever held in the United States.
This gathering of Catholics celebrating their devotion to Mary put The Grotto on the map as a nationally significant religious site. The Congress drew more than 20,000 people from across the country during its three-day program in August 1934.
Cardinal Alexis-Henri-Marie Lépicier, an important Vatican official, traveled all the way from Rome to lead the ceremonies. During the event, 8,000 participants carried candles in a procession along The Grotto’s paths.
Special medals were made for the occasion, with The Grotto on one side and Pope Pius XI on the other. This historic gathering helped make Portland an important center for American Catholic devotion.
Movie theater owner funded the best view
The stunning Meditation Chapel with its glass wall overlooking the Columbia River Valley came from the family of Tom Moyer, a successful Portland theater owner. They donated it in honor of his wife, Marilyn, in 1991.
Their generous gift created what’s now one of The Grotto’s most popular features. Tom Moyer built an entertainment empire starting with just one movie theater in 1966, eventually owning 425 screens across the western U.S.
The chapel’s bronze Pietà statue weighs 1,200 pounds and was made in Italy before being shipped to Portland.
Christmas lights festival grew from small start
The famous Festival of Lights at The Grotto started much smaller than what you see today.
The first festival in 1988 ran for just ten nights. Since then, it’s grown into the largest Christmas choir program in the world, with much bigger crowds and displays.
The original festival had only 25,000 lights and 15 choir performances. Now, the event runs for 36 days from late November to December 30th and features over 500,000 LED lights throughout the grounds.
Nearly 160 different choir groups perform during the festival, coming from schools, churches, and community groups across the Pacific Northwest. It takes 1,000 volunteers working in shifts to run everything.
Setting up requires five miles of electrical cords and special weather-resistant lighting, with a team of 15 people working for three weeks before the festival opens.
Visiting The Grotto
You’ll find The Grotto at 8840 NE Skidmore Street in Northeast Portland, just 15 minutes from downtown.
It’s open daily year-round except Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 9 AM to 8 PM in summer with shorter hours in winter. Lower level is free and includes the main cave and chapel.
Upper gardens cost: Adults $9.95, Seniors $8.95.
Parking is free, and all areas are wheelchair accessible with free loaners at the gift shop.
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