Thread: Badass Churches
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Old Posted Dec 26, 2020, 11:10 PM
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Jordan de California Jordan de California is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ventura County
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Washington, DC Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I'm kinda surprised that in all these years no one in this thread has mentioned the very tallest and pointiest of the Latter-day Saint temples, in Washington, DC.


Source: Aaron Nuffer, https://churchofjesuschristtemples.o...n-d.c.-temple/

It's technically in Kensington, Maryland, but it serves the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who live throughout the National Capital Region, and it's a major landmark seen from the Beltway. It's the tallest temple the church has ever built, at 288 feet to the top of the eastern spire, and it's a fine example of late mid-century modernist architecture all around, having been originally completed in 1974 following nearly six years of construction.

It's one of the few temples to prominently feature brightly-colored art glass windows on the exterior, rather than the relatively more understated stuff seen on most other temples. The eastern and western corners of the main body of the temple feature brightly illuminated strips of stained glass running from ground to roof, and smaller windows of the same style are seen on either side of the main entrance. Other than that, the main body of the temple doesn't feature windows. Instead, certain sections of the walls themselves are composed of translucently thin marble. I haven't had any luck finding an interior photo of that effect, though.

The temple recently underwent a major renovation, and once large gatherings of people are considered safe again, post-pandemic, it will be opened up for a multi-week open house, where anyone may visit the temple for a tour of the interior. After such open houses, Latter-day Saint temples are dedicated for sacred use only by members of the church, though many, including this one, have visitors' centers open to the public. The open house is nonetheless a rare opportunity, and I'd encourage any fans of religious architecture living within a day-trip's travel distance of DC to check it out, hopefully sometime in early-to-mid-2021. This video explains a little more about it, albeit with outdated information with regard to the actual scheduling. It also features some cool drone footage and a few interior renderings.

Video Link


Press release re: open house postponement, with stills of those interior renderings: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist...dication-dates

Last edited by Jordan de California; Dec 26, 2020 at 11:21 PM.
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