Masonic temple

The specialty meeting rooms are awe inspiring. The tour guides are open to questions about masonry and not just the building. Your experience is directly related to the people in your group. Ask questions or your tour will totally suck. Oh, and get ready to listen to really weird recordings in each room. Actually, with that in mind, I’m taking off a star.

I have done this tour twice, once at 13 years old immediately after seeing the Stone-​Cutters Simpsons episode and once recently, at 25. Both time were great experiences and the tour is definitely worth doing. They have several large meeting rooms, each with a theme (Egypt, Medieval Europe, The Italian Renaissance, etc) and they are beautiful. The tour covers the history of the building, free masonry in general, and a bit of the city’s history. Both times the tour guides were very engaging and knowledgeable and allow you to ask any questions you may have (After the Stone-​Cutters episode, I had MANY). This visit does not take very long (60 – 90 minutes) and is a novel experience you should add to any visit to Philly. Also, this was very unique experience on the trip which stood out from many of the other Philly attractions (colonial houses built in the first half of the eighteenth century).

I had high expectations of the Grand Lodge — however I was sorely disappointed. The tour consisted of several large meeting rooms, each garishly repurposing replicas of ancient symbolism and architecture. The tour featured a minute or two audio track in each room and then you could ask questions.
There are still things of interest to be seen, but all in all it was a disappointment. For $ 13 a head you get to see what looks like a hodge-​podge of once meaningful symbolism now tossed together in a sort of empty occult stew. It successfully takes the mystery out of the seemingly dead boys club.
It may however be worth the trip just for a laugh when you get to the gift shop.
I would suggest going to the Penn museum if you have an interest in symbolism, or the PAFA building if you want a sense of regal architecture and history.

Beautiful. Did the tour. It goes by fast. I don’t even think it was an hour. There are a bunch of rooms each one unique and astonishing. The Egyptian room was my favorite.

We walked in as we were quite curious to see what the Free Masons would be like, but as soon as we walked in, there was a fee to see what was inside. I stopped short of the entrance and looked up. That was worth the free look. It was gorgeous. It looked like paintings with gold. If there really wasn’t a fee, I would’ve loved to see the rest of it. But alas, I’m cheap.

We came to look for the treasures, but nothing was to be found. Apparently, you have to be members and work with stones or something.. ..

Architektonisch sehr interessanter Bau und auch die Nutzung ist interessant: Es handelt sich um einen Freimaurertempel, also nichts religiöses, denn Freimaurer können jeder Religion angehören. In den Sälen des Masonic Temple wurden und werden einfach Sachverhalte diskutiert. Die Säle sind unterschiedlich gestaltet und handwerklich fast perfekt ausgestattet, sie lehnen sich in Dekoration und Farbgebung an verschiedene geschichtiche Vorbilder (Alhambra, Tempel von Luxor, italienische Bauten). Schliesslich gingen die Freimaurer aus den feineren Handwerkerzünften hervor. Das Freimaurertum hat in den USA eine recht grosse Historie, George Washington trug bei der Grundsteinlegung des Kapitols selbst einen Freimaurerschurz (der hier im Masonic Temple ausgestellt ist). Die fünf Grundpfeiler der Freimaurerei sind Freiheit, Gleichheit, Brüderlichkeit, Toleranz und Humanität.

The Masonic Temple in Philadelphia is the headquarters for the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Pennsylvania. We thought the exterior of the building was pretty cool but inside it was truly grand and befitting its title of Grand Lodge. The tour took us to 7 different halls all of varying styles and named according to the architecture. Every part of the interior is decorated interestingly even their grand staircases lined with pictures of former Grand Masters. A truly beautiful bulding — inside and out.