The Grotto - National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, Portland (must see)

The Grotto – National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother is a 62-acre Roman Catholic sanctuary and botanical garden built around a 110-foot basalt cliff. Its central shrine occupies a cave carved into the rock, where a stone altar and a replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà stand beneath the cliff face. Founder Father Ambrose Mayer viewed the former quarry as a “natural cathedral,” with the cave forming the sanctuary and the surrounding trees and open sky shaping the larger worship space.

The site grew from a promise Mayer made as a boy after his seriously ill mother recovered. He acquired the land in 1923, and about 3,000 people attended the first Mass and dedication in May 1924. In 1934, the grounds hosted the first International Marian Congress held in the United States. St. Anne’s Chapel was built for the event and now displays reproductions of Madonna paintings from different countries.

Visitors can reach the Upper Gardens above the cliff, where wooded paths connect ponds, chapels, sculptures and quiet resting places. A replica of the medieval labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral provides a route for walking meditation. The gardens also contain shrines created with Lithuanian, Polish, Filipino, Vietnamese and Hispanic communities, including the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, the Filipino Dambana and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Other features include the Peace Garden, the 34 carved wooden scenes of the Via Matris and the glass-walled Meditation Chapel, which overlooks the Columbia River and distant mountains. During the Christmas Festival of Lights, the lower grounds are covered with extensive light displays, while regional choirs perform inside the Chapel of Mary alongside caroling, puppet shows and other seasonal programmes.