Mother Temple of the West

About 14 miles north of a Chicago, at the northern most end of "L" ( the metro line) lies a small and picturesque village, Willment. Its considered as a bedroom community along the shores of Lake Michigan with tree lined avenues and beautiful buildings.

One particular building stands out, and has been the reason for spreading the fame of Willmet across the seas - "The Bahai House of Worship". Nick named as the "Mother Temple of the North", it is the largest and the oldest surviving Bahai temple in the world.

Completed in 1953 in Portland cement concrete by architect Louis Bourgeois, it has become a prominent Chicago landmark and is considered as one of the seven wonders of Illinois.


The only decorative art in the building is designs made my intersecting lines, there are no images of peoples or places. As all Bahai temples, there are nine entrances marked by nine versus above the doors.

In the Linden avenue, the road in which the Bahai temple is situated, there is a golf course and some of the most beautiful houses that i have ever seen..

Linden avenue