Damanhur was born of a dream. A dream of a society based on optimism and the idea that human beings can be the masters of their own destiny, without having to depend on outside forces. This was the vision of Oberto Airaudi when, together with a group of fellow researchers he founded the spiritual, human and social experience of Damanhur. Today, in accordance with the Damanhurian custom of taking animal names, Oberto Airaudi uses the name 'Falco' (Falcon).

	The Temples of Humankind, built in the heart of the mountain, are a series of underground Halls where art and beauty become a means of communication with the Divine. The rooms are connected to each other on different levels in a pathway that is liked to the journey that every human being undertakes from birth to death and again at rebirth: the Temples of Humankind for those who enter represent a real initiate path.
	In the Temples of Humankind every architectural element and detail follows a precise code of form and proportions according to an ancient language thousands of years old. Every room is devoted to a specific magic function, and the whole complex represents the application of 30 years of spiritual search. The Temples are a three-dimensional book that can be read by those with the knowledge to read it, just like the Pyramids and the Gothic Cathedrals.
	The Temples are an alchemical laboratory and a place for meditation; they are a collective work, a metaphor for the way in which Damanhur builds itself. The Temples contain the elaboration of the symbols and the spiritual pathways of every epoch and of all worlds. The Temples are a demonstration of what can be realized by the creativity of a human group animated by a common ideal.

Art and the Temples

In Damanhur, Art is the preferred instrument for growth and transformation. The citizens of the Federation have created the Temples of Humankind, an extraordinary building in which the arts inspire the flowering of intuition, new thought and new ways of living, so much so, that life itself becomes a work of art. Gary Alexander, professor of England’s ‘Open University’ in his book ‘eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through communication’, Lighthouse Books 2002, writes:
“Damanhurians transform all their territories into places of inspiration, where Spirit and Form are not separate and spiritual conquests manifest in the practical results of everyone’s work. The sacred, in Damanhur, is a concrete reality that is born out of sharing; the offer of individual creativity and the strength derived from common ideals.”
‘The major part of the walls are decorated inside and out with paintings and there are mural paintings representing gigantic plants and animals. Statues, altars, works of art are spread throughout the territories. Damanhur has constructed a magnificent underground temple, with painted walls, mosaic floors and Tiffany glass ceilings. Leaflets on notice boards and their newspaper report news of games, theater and musical events and courses of every kind. One gets the pleasant sensation that for Damanhurians, creativity and the arts have taken the place of the race to consume.’
Every year, thousands of people visit Damanhur to experiment with its social model, study its philosophy and meditate in the Temples of Humankind, the great underground construction carved by hand out of the rock by Damanhur’s citizens. Many have defined it as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
The Hall of Water, of the Earth, of the Spheres, of Mirrors, of Metals, the Blue Temple, the Labyrinth, the Temples of Humankind are an underground work of art, created entirely by hand and dedicated to the divine nature of Humanity. They are a great three-dimensional book that tells the story of Humankind through all forms of art. A pathway to the Divine inside and outside of the self. In the Temples every detail has significance, following precise codes of form and proportion. Every Hall has its own specific resonance and sound.
The Temples of Humankind symbolically represent the inner rooms of every human being. Walking through its halls and corridors corresponds to a profound inner journey. The Temples weave their way inside the mountain for more than 8,500 cubic meters on five different levels, linked by hundreds of meters of corridors.
The Temples are a great laboratory where Science, Technology and Spirituality are united n the search for new paths for Humanity.As in the Renaissance, the construction of the Temples of Humankind has inspired the creation of of art and craft workshops for which Damanhur has become known all over the world - In line with the growth of the Temples – which represent the highest expression of collective artisitic expression – Damanhurian society has refined itself and created the basis for its own culture and tradition.

The Temples are sited at the meeting point of Eurasian and African continental plates whose movement has brought to the surface an ancient mineral, over 300 million years old. This mineral known as Milonite carries the physical energy of the Earth. The Temples were constructed inside a seam of this particular mineral which precisely follows the flow of the ‘Synchronic Lines’ of the Earth. The Synchronic Lines are great rivers of energy that surround our planet and link it to the Universe, transporting ideas, thought and dreams. The Temples of Humankind rise up on a shinning knot; the point at which four of these Lines meet.