Damanhur: Temples of Humankind

Nearly three decades ago, Italian spiritual leader Oberto Airaudi had a vision of sacred temples built inside a mountain near Turin. As artists, artisans, and builders excavated the equivalent of a five-story subterranean building, it remained a secret from even its closest neighbors. Twenty years after the project began, the Italian government received word of the burgeoning community and became suspicious. Threatened by a full-scale military invasion, Damanhur revealed itself to local officials and the world.

This handsome coffee-table book offers a guided tour of the village, whose stunning murals, sculpture, mosaics, and stained glass draw from all sacred traditions to celebrate universal spirituality. Merging ancient mystic customs and contemporary consciousness, intensive labor and visionary artistry, the story of this remarkable underground community appeals not only to spiritual seekers, but to artists and idealists from all disciplines.