Normally you cannot gain access to the inside of a Mormon Temple if you are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When one is built, open houses are held for a period of time and them the temple is dedicated and access is thereafter limited. The Mormon Temple in Washington D.C. has been under renovation the last four years and for the first time in almost 50 years, open house tours are being offered there until 11 June. The Temple is scheduled to be rededicated on 14 August 2022.
Yesterday I had the chance to visit this amazing structure. It is the the third largest Mormon temple in the world (behind the temples in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles) with an interior space of 160,000 square feet (14864 square meters) and is the tallest at 288 feet (88 meters) at its highest point, the spire with a golden Angel Moroni with a trumpet, shown in the third photo below. There are six spires covered in 24 carat gold and the building is encased in white Alabama marble.
During our tour we visited six of the seven floors of the temple including the Baptistry (for ancestors), the Brides Room, Instruction Rooms, the Celestial Room, and the Sealing Rooms. The interiors are elegantly furnished and decorated, combining beauty with function. We were not permitted to take photos within the Temple, but there are number of videos on line showing the Washington D.C. Temple, including this one put out by the Mormon Church Newsroom that chronicles the renovation and shows the new interior.
There were lots of friendly volunteers throughout the Temple to help direct visitors and to answer any questions that we had. A lot of information about the Temple, including galleries of photos and historical information, can be found at the dctemple.org website. Although some of my personal beliefs are at odds with the teachings of the Mormon Church, I think that it is valuable to learn more about about others and to seek to understand more deeply what they believe—too often we rely on half-truths and falsehoods when looking at “others.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Quite impressive and very interesting to see, also thanks for the link you added.
As much time as I have spent in Washington DC, I have never yet made it to a tour at the Mormon temple. I really like religious architecture in all its forms so I am really keen to see it for myself some time.
Thanks for sharing this post Mike. You’re right, understanding others is very important.
Thanks, Dan. In so much of our lives these days, it has become difficult to have civil discussions with people who have different beliefs or points of view. It doesn’t seem so long ago that you could respectfully disagree with someone and still be friends.
We’ve lost too much of that spirit, Mike.
So sad, but true.