The Tripoli Shrine Temple is a

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic body, Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over ...

temple built 1926-28 in the Concordia neighborhood of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The building's design incorporates

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

and Indian elements, somewhat resembling the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

in India, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as Tripoli Temple. It is not a religious building.

Description

The Tripoli Shrine was founded in 1885 by nobles from the Medinah Temple in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, a fraternal order that traces its lineage to a Masonic lodge established in 1843 by early settlers of Milwaukee. This lodge later founded a dozen other lodges. Tripoli Temple was designed by architects Alfred Clas and Shepard in

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

style. Built at a cost of $616,999.61, it formally opened on May 14, 1928 after over two years of construction. It was the first temple in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and was home to 13,000 Shriners in the area. The building is one of the best of examples of

architecture in the United States, a style that was particularly popular for synagogues and movie theaters. The Temple's design is loosely based on the

, with the addition of

Mudéjar Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for C ...

style

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

stone coursing. An ornately tiled main dome that spans 30 feet in diameter crowns the structure and is flanked by two smaller domes of like design. Sculptures depicting a pair of kneeling camels grace the entrance, while the interior is decorated with ceramic tile of intricate floral designs and plaster lattice work. With

External links

Tripoli Shrine TempleTripoli Shrine Circus

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Moorish Revival architecture in Wisconsin Shriners Masonic buildings in Wisconsin Masonic buildings completed in 1928 Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee

Description

External links

See also

References