Grand Temple History

The Grand Temple, dedicated as the Supreme Temple of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, in San Jose, California, on July 17, 1949, is a reproduction of two ancient Egyptian temples.

The temple’s imposing exterior, with its massive columns, resembles the temple of Dendera, in which one of the great mystery schools of antiquity was established; while its interior is a reproduction of the processional temple of Medinet Habu, having a central court open to the sky and roofed colonnades flanking two sides. The inner temple, with its exquisite murals, its realistic simulating of moonlight and sunrise, and its authentic architectural design, is a thing of beauty. This new temple replaced an earlier, and much smaller Supreme Temple, constructed by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis in Rosicrucian Park in 1928.

Almost from Rosicrucian Park’s inception in 1927, there was an AMORC temple in Rosicrucian Park. The first temple was built above the original Administration Building in 1928. However, by the 1940s AMORC’s membership had outgrown this small temple, and the present structure was in the planning stages. This temple replaced an earlier and much smaller Supreme Temple constructed by H. Spencer Lewis in 1928.