You Need To See This Gorgeous Tree Cathedral By Giuliano Mauri
Giuliano Mauri's "Cattedrale Vegetale" is perhaps the most striking work of 'natural architecture' on Earth.
The cathedral, which can be found at the foot of Mount Arera on the outskirts of Bergamo in the North of Italy, comprises a cage made from wooden poles, gathered together to represent the columns of a church nave.
Mauri planted eighty hornbeam sprouts inside this cage. According to the artist, in a period of fifteen years, the supporting structure will have little by little decayed and the hornbeams will have grown to form an entirely organic "cathedral".
The artist finished the preparations for the Tree Cathedral towards the end of 2001. After his death in 2009, the cathedral was finally completed in 2010 and it will stay as a living memorial to Mauri's work.
The Cathedral consists of 42 columns creating a basilica of five aisles. The artist used 1,800 spruce trunks and 600 chestnut tree branches which are bound together by more than 6,000 meters of hazelnut twigs, gathered together using traditional methods of intertwining and weaving.
When the trees grow, they will create a natural roof across the cathedral. The Cathedral expands in an area of 650 square meters and took months to complete. It is over 90 feet long, approximately 80 feet wide, and varies in height from roughly 16 feet to almost 70 feet.
