Hall of Earth - Temples of Humankind, Damanhur, Italy
Sometimes refereed to as a “hidden eight wonder of the world”, deep within the hills of the Italian Alps is an awe inspiring system of ornate underground temples known as the Temples of Humankind. This incredible feat of art and engineering was built by hand by members of the spiritual community known as The Federation of Damanhur, beginning in secret in 1978, lead by community leader Falco. Each underground temple is distinctly themed and decorated to represent a unique element of the Damanhur spirituality, linked by a maze-like system of elaborate tunnels, including secret mechanical walls and moving staircases.
This particular temple, known as the Hall of Earth, is dedicated to the planet Earth and all living things, both in life and death. Each member of the community creates a clay statue which represents their spirit, you can spot these placed around the edge of the floor.
This ambitious location was captured over an afternoon by Start VR as part of the Atlas Obscura virtual reality project. A data set of around 500 photos was captured over the course of a few hours and processed in Reality Capture for viewing in VR. We chose Reality Capture because it was so fast and able to resolve so many more of the intricate details in the room, such as the tiny statues and the relief work.
Have a look at the model here:
https://sketchfab.com/models/871659d9bff24ce8935d15e47fb4b029
You can also see the finished processed models from around the world as part of Atlas Obscura VR, trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAr0FIEQR8k