Grottoes is an incorporated town in Rockingham County with a small portion in Augusta County in the state in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 2,899 at the 2020 census. The town lies right on the border with Augusta County, and several commercial, residential, and recreational lots have portions within Augusta County.
The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in Huntsville, Alabama. The organization engages in the research and scientific study, restoration, exploration, and protection of caves. It has more than 10,000 members in more than 250 grottos.
A grotto (grot) is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden features. The Grotta Azzurra at Capri and the grotto at Tiberius' Villa Jovis in the Bay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes.
The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of present-day Luoyang in Henan province, China. The images, many once painted, were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan (香山) and Longmenshan, running east and west. The Yi River flows northward between them and the area used to be called Yique. The alternative name of "Dragon's Gate Grottoes" derives from the resemblance of the two hills that check the flow of the Yi River to the typical "Chinese gate towers" that once marked the entrance to Luoyang from the south. There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 2,345 caves, ranging from 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, hence the name "Forest of Ancient Stelae", as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. Situated in a scenic natural environment, the caves were dug from a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river. 30% date from the Northern Wei and 60% from the Tang dynasty, caves from other periods accounting for less than 10% of the total. Starting with the Northern Wei dynasty in 493 AD, patrons and donors included emperors, Wu Zetian, members of the royal family, other rich families, generals, and religious groups.
Mount St. Mary's University is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richard J. Bolte School of Business, and the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. "The Mount" has over 40 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs, as well as bachelor's/master's combinations in partnership with other universities, 8 master's programs, and 6 postgraduate certificate programs.
The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother, popularly known as The Grotto, is a Catholic outdoor altar and sanctuary located in the Madison South district of Portland, Oregon, United States. Constructed in 1924, the sanctuary covers 62 acres (25 ha), set both at the foot of, and atop, a 110 foot (34 m) cliff. It is a ministry of the Servite Friars, Order of Friar Servants of Mary. A large meditation hall whose main chamber is at clifftop level extends down to the foot of the cliff; the cross on the hill is visible many miles away. In addition to a church, there are several thousand feet of trails, including a trail of the Stations of the Cross, along which visitors may pass in contemplation through botanical gardens. The Grotto also features a full-service Conference Center, and a Gift Shop.
Grotto is a small unincorporated community in King County, Washington, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 2 west of Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains, near the town of Skykomish. Grotto is known for its scenic mountain environment.
In Christmas folklore and legends, Santa's Workshop is the workshop where Santa Claus and his elves live and make the toys and presents given out at Christmas. The exact location of Santa's workshop varies depending upon local culture, however it is generally believed to be somewhere around or on the North Pole. There are at least eight claimed locations for his workshop. For example, people in Canada send letters to Santa's Workshop at his North Pole location in Canada, with the unique postal code of "H0H 0H0". People in the United States believe the workshop is a sprawling commune located at the North Pole. Some people in the United Kingdom and Finland believe that Father Christmas' Workshop is located in Finland in Korvatunturi, Lapland. In addition to housing the factory where toys are either manufactured or distributed by the elves, the complex also houses the residence of Santa, his wife, companions, and all of the reindeer.
The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm(M.O.V.P.E.R.), often known as "The Grotto," is a Masonic body founded in 1889 by Herman LeRoy Fairchild and the members of Hamilton Lodge in Hamilton, New York. M.O.V.P.E.R. describes itself as a "social organisation for the Master Mason." Although its members must be Master Masons, M.O.V.P.E.R. "is not and makes no claim to be a part of Symbolic Craft Masonry."
Garin Regional Park is a regional park located in Hayward, California, that is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system. It shares a contiguous border with sister park Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park. The park is the site of the former Garin Ranch, sold by Andrew J. Garin to the district in 1966.
Grotto Point Light, also known as Port Jackson Entrance Range Front Light, is an active lighthouse located at Grotto Point, a rocky headland at the southernmost tip of Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia, on the north side of Sydney Harbour. It serves as the front range light, Rosherville Light serving as the rear light, into Port Jackson. Rosherville Light is located almost exactly 1 mile (1.6 km) behind Grotto Point Light.
The Staunton–Waynesboro Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Virginia, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 125,433.
Grotto Geyser is a fountain-type geyser located in the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Grotto Geyser is the namesake for the group of geysers that includes Grotto Fountain Geyser, South Grotto Fountain Geyser, Indicator Spring, Spa Geyser, Startling Geyser, and Rocket Geyser.
Scott's Grotto in Ware, Hertfordshire, is a Grade I listed building and with six chambers the most extensive shell grotto in the United Kingdom. "It is, although on a small scale, far more complex than Alexander Pope's at Twickenham. Compared with the grotto at Stourhead, on the other hand, it is minute, but that only enhances the enchantment." The surrounding gardens and structures are Grade II* listed.
Parriwi Head Light, also known as Rosherville Light and Port Jackson Entrance Range Rear Light, is an active lighthouse located just off Parriwi Road, near Rosherville Reserve on the south side of Middle Harbour in Mosman, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the rear range light, Grotto Point Light serving as the front light, into Port Jackson. Grotto Point Light is located almost exactly 1 mile (1.6 km) in front of Parriwi Head Light.
Grotto Glacier is a glacier on the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, which flows east into George VI Sound between Belemnite Point and Ablation Point. It is 46 km (29 mi) long, 6 km (4 mi) wide where it emerges from the coastal mountains, and 13 km (8.1 mi) wide at its mouth. It was first photographed from the air on 23 November 1935, by Lincoln Ellsworth and mapped from these photographs by W.L.G. Joerg. It was roughly surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition and resurveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS). The glacier was so named by the FIDS because a sledge dog was rescued from a grotto-like crevasse in the glacier.
A cave castle or grotto castle is a residential or refuge castle that has been built into a natural cave. It falls within the category of hill castles. Unlike other types, such castles can only be assaulted from the front, or by drilling through the rock above; the gateway is usually located in the middle of a rock face, which makes it much more difficult to penetrate. Archaeological discoveries have revealed that caves were used as places of refuge as early as the Stone Age. The first medieval cave castles emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries this type became more widespread, especially in certain parts of France and Switzerland.
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial, also known as The Grotto: John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial, is an outdoor 1965 large bas-relief sculpture and memorial to John F. Kennedy by an unknown artist, installed outside The Grotto in Portland, Oregon, United States.
The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes is located at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States, and is a reproduction of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France. The current Grotto was built in 1896, replacing a wooden grotto built on August 22, 1878. An artificial rock cave, the Grotto is used by its visitors as a sacred space for prayer, meditation, and outdoor Mass.
Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located on the Mount Mercy University campus in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. It consists of a lagoon and five structures dedicated to the Virgin Mary. They include two arched entryways, a bridge, a ten-column structure representing the Ten Commandments, and a canopy enclosing a marble statue of the Virgin Mary. It was built by William H. Lightner, a self-trained architect, between 1929 and 1941. He utilized 12 tons of stone and 300 varieties of Italian mosaic glass that he acquired in his travels of more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km).
