Away from the city’s bustling lights and pollution, at a remote valley in the Mount Arera, in the town of Bergamo, Italy, a living cathedral, called, Cattedrale Vegetale ,translation: Tree Cathedral) stands as an ode to Mother Nature. Cathedrals take decades to be built, similarly this cathedral will take decades, but the building will be done by nature herself- slowly & gradually. The main aim of this project is to reset the differences created between the culture and nature, through this experiment, letting the people experience the natural growth and fall.
The Cathedral consists of five naves and 42 columns, formed by entwining 600 chest-nut & hazel branches around 1800 fir tree poles with beech tree planted within each column, which will gradually grow according to the poles and columns and take on the structure of the five-aisle basilica.
The Cattedrale Vegetale was designed by artist Giuliano Mauri, who took years to perfect this concept and finished his first plant cathedral on 2002 in Malga Costa. However, sadly, he passed away in 2009, a year before the frame of Cattedrale Vegetale in Bergamo was finished and unveiled for the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity.
By: Archa Dave
