Masonic Temple (Monrovia)
Coordinates: 6 ° 19 ′ 5.4 " N , 10 ° 48 ′ 48.4" W.
The Masonic Temple (Monrovia) (German: Masonic Temple of Monrovia ) is an event and ritual building of the Freemasons in downtown Monrovia . It is considered to be the largest Masonic building in the Republic of Liberia .
The Masonic Lodge of Monrovia was founded in 1869 on the American model and was the most influential society in the country. All leading families in the country belonged to it and this networking was also the main reason that led to its breakup.
Today the striking building at the western end of Benson Street in the Mamba Point district is in a ruinous state. The splendid building, built in the 1890s, with towering columns and an emblem of the Masonic Order on the facade and a formerly gilded globe on the roof was attacked several times during the civil war and set on fire. At the main driveway there is still a watchtower with a defective machine gun as a memorial to the senseless war and vandalism . Today the once magnificently furnished building is populated by homeless people. Nothing is yet known about a reconstruction.
- See also: Architecture in Liberia
Web links
literature
- William A. Muraskin: Middle-class Blacks in a white society: Prince Hall Freemasonry in America . University of California Press, Berkley, Los Angeles, London 1975, ISBN 0-520-02705-1 , Black Masonry's Links with the National and International Communities, pp. 181-192 . Full text as digitized version