Damanhur Temples of Humankind

The Temples of Humankind are a series of subterranean halls dug into the hillside near Vidracco, in the Valchiusella valley of northern Piedmont. Excavation began in the summer of 1978, directed by Oberto Airaudi, founder of the Federation of Damanhur, a community he had started in 1975 with twelve friends. The temples were never authorized: at the time no Piedmont laws even regulated underground construction, so the builders kept the work entirely hidden for sixteen years. In 1992 an anonymous letter led armed police and the district attorney of Ivrea to the entrance on July 3; an hour later the first outside witnesses came out of the mountain visibly shaken by what they had seen. Damanhur announced the temples at a press conference that October, and their existence was finally legalized in June 1996.

Today the temples sit roughly thirty meters underground: the Hall of Water, Hall of Earth, Hall of Metals, Labyrinth Hall, Hall of Spheres, Hall of Mirrors and Blue Temple, all covered in sculpture, stained glass, and painting. Damanhur itself is still a living community with its own constitution, currency, and schools of study, and it draws attention of both kinds: scholars study it as one of Italy's most substantial new religious movements, while ex-member testimony and Italian cult-abuse observers have raised serious criticism the community has publicly answered as an ethical cult. Airaudi died in 2013. Entry to the temples is by guided tour only, booked through the Welcome Center; the Classic visit runs from about seventy-eight euros, with in-depth and full-day options above that.

Visiting

Tours are booked through the Damanhur Welcome Center, which lists current visit options and prices; the temples themselves cannot be entered independently. Background and history from the Damanhur Foundation.

Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Templi_dell%27Umanit%C3%A0_Damanhur.jpg), public domain.