Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind
In the mid-1970s, two dozen Italians coalesced into a community in the foothills of the Alps of northern Italy's Valchiusella Valley, thirty miles north of Turin. Inspired by their multi-faceted leader, Oberto Airaudi(1950-2013), they focused their energies on the seemingly impossible task of excavating an underground cavern. It was tedious work, carving into the rock entirely with hand tools, but they shared a common vision and were inspired to accomplish their goal together. They concealed their work from the public for fourteen years, hiding more than two million buckets of earth and rock, integrating it into other buildings and structures. As underground rooms were completed their project changed from construction to art and creative expression, they covered walls, floors, and ceilings with ornate and beautiful mosaic images, symbolic and full of meaning. The intricate series of temple rooms spreading out in the depths of hewn caverns became canvasses for the talented and inspired artists. The daunting physical challenge of the project was the social glue that created a cohesive community, and the process of working together for a common vision became a pattern for the further evolution of the Damanhur community.
So 14 Years in, the excavation came to the attention of regional authorities, who initially called the excavation a hazard and planned to destroy the work. When they saw the temples, however, with their quality workmanship and engineering and the exquisite beauty of the architecture and artwork, they declared them a regional treasure. The temples, however are only an outward indication of the spiritual depth that is core to the community's existence.
Now, Damanhur ("the city of light") thrives as a city of 600. It's citizens live in diverse, multifamily dwellings scattered throughout the Valchiusella Valley spanning approximately 1,200 acres of land creating a unique structure called a "holarchy" with a large system containing subsystems, analogous to the patterns of natural systems. When a group of Damanhurians purchase an old farmhouse for renovating, it becomes a new living unit they call a nucleo. Each nucleo has a unique focus. Such as a business or service that benefits the federation. There are different options for citizenship at Damanhur, with differing degrees of financial commitment and benefits. The federation owns the buildings and land in common and distributes financial contributions according to the nucleo and broader needs. Each nucleo has about two dozen residents, who become a "family" that creates agreements and lives together as a close-knit, interdependent community. That is an appropriate size to foster the daily relationships necessary for shared decision making and the housekeeping needed to live harmoniously. Each family eats, together, shares costs, and has weekly meetings to discuss issues of the nucleo and the larger Federation of Damanhur.
Damanhur has productive organic farms, schools, healing and arts centers, over sixty diverse businesses, an alternative currency, and laboratories for scientific research--illustrating many principles of thriving, living systems. Its stated purpose is to learn, practice and share ways that humans might live sustainably on the earth. The original founder, Falco, took on the entire community on a weekly basis to answer and discuss questions of spiritual and local importance.
Already several decades into its quest. Damanhur is committed to exchanging understanding with others through leadership in the Global Ecovillage Network, the School of Meditation, and workshops that attract thousands. Visitors come to visit in the amazing underground, hand-dug temples and to learn about Damanhur's rich culture and ambitious work in ecological and social realms.
In 1985 a group of Damanhurians undertook a yearlong experiment in complete self-sufficiency, the "Olio Caldo Project". The intention of the project was to live entirely on what they produced or could trade for within the community-shelter, food, clothing, shoes, tools, bags, energy and furniture. The yearlong experiment morphed into a long-term goal for the entire community of Damanhur.
~excerpt from the wonderful book: Sustainable (R)evolution-- Permaculture in ecovillages, urban farms and communities worldwide
by Juliana Birnbaum and Louis Fox
