{"id":4384,"date":"2013-12-31T12:13:12","date_gmt":"2013-12-31T20:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/?p=4384"},"modified":"2013-12-31T12:13:12","modified_gmt":"2013-12-31T20:13:12","slug":"local-hidden-gem-sunol-water-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/2013\/12\/local-hidden-gem-sunol-water-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Hidden Gem: The Sunol Water Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"

one of my favorite drives near where i live (east SF Bay Area) is Niles Canyon Road, which cuts through the eponymous canyon<\/a>\u00a0which perhaps is most famous for being the where several early films were made (including some Charlie Chaplin ones).<\/p>\n

\"map\"<\/a>at the eastern end of the canyon is the Sunol Water Temple<\/a> — a place i’ve always been intrigued by but never had the chance to visit because it’s only open 9 to 3 on weekdays that are not public holidays. i have today off, so i went for a quick drive. there’s not much to the Temple, but it’s a nice piece of Bay Area history, and perfect to start or end a visit to the canyon.<\/p>\n

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built in 1910, the Temple marks the confluence of three early water sources before continuing on to the population at large. after the modernization of the Bay Area’s water system<\/a> in the middle of the last century the Temple’s water supply became less important and most of today continues to a nearby creek.<\/p>\n

if the Temple looks Italianate, it is — architect Willis Polk was inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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the interior of the dome has partially-completed murals — when i first saw pictures i thought the originals had worn away, but as it turns out, they sadly were never fully realized in the first place.<\/p>\n

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Pretty cool that water still flows here! https:\/\/t.co\/9RglgZCAQX<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) December 31, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n