Nearly two hundred years after the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the group opened its first temple in the heart of a city known as a den of iniquity: New York City. Unlike other Mormon temples, which are known for their attractive exterior architecture, this one resides within a meeting house built for the church in 1975. That building is unremarkable by most standards, with rows of minimal vertical setbacks, and very few windows. But the building, like most religions, beckons people to look for the beauty within. In this case, the beauty carved out of the first, fifth, and sixth floors which have become the temple.

Much of the interior is decorated in soothing shades of white, illuminated by white spotlights and lamps, and offset by black accents in the furniture. It is an immediately calming space, and the sound-proof walls create a welcome sanctuary from the cacophonous lifestyle that is Manhattan.

Perhaps the most impressive room is the Endowment Room. Since the Manhattan temple has no church grounds, a pastoral scene of mountains, trees, valleys and rivers, is painted on the walls and ceiling of this room to evoke a sense of the outdoors. Wooden support beams are exposed, rather than hidden, to give a sense of trees and nature that you can touch.

In a way, the founding of this temple is something of a homecoming for the Mormons. The church was founded in 1830 in upstate New York before being forced west. The opening of this temple, therefore, reflects many important religious themes: redemption, forgiveness, and hope.