Medinah Temple: Chicago Travel Guide (4.2★)

How this guide was made: Editor-reviewed, AI-assisted. Facts are pulled from live Google Places data; images are licensed or public domain. See our editorial policy.

Why go

You don’t visit Medinah Temple for a guided tour — there isn’t one. You visit for the double-take moment on the sidewalk, when a Moorish Revival fantasy of onion domes, horseshoe arches and glazed terracotta suddenly rises above a stretch of River North storefronts.

Built in 1912 for a Shriners’ fraternal organization, the building once held concerts, circuses and even elephants on its stage. Today the shell survives as a Chicago landmark, its interior reworked into a Bloomingdale’s Home & Furniture store.

What you’re actually looking at

The exterior is the real attraction. Look up at the striped brick-and-terracotta facade, the crescent-topped minarets, and the arabesque detailing that would look more at home in Marrakech than the Midwest.

Step inside and the contrast is jarring in a good way. Retail furniture and lighting displays now sit beneath what was once a 4,200-seat auditorium, and if you know where to look, you can still trace the shape of the old proscenium and upper balconies in the bones of the space.

Getting there

Medinah Temple sits at 600 N Wabash Ave, right at the edge of River North, a few blocks north of the river and an easy walk from the Loop.

• Red Line: Grand/State station, about a 5-minute walk east
• Brown, Purple, Orange, Pink Lines: Merchandise Mart or Washington/Wells stops, roughly 10–12 minutes on foot
• On foot from Michigan Avenue: 5–8 minutes west along Grand or Ohio

Parking in River North is metered street parking or pricier garage lots — walking or transit is simpler.

When to go

The building keeps retail hours: 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. It’s closed Saturday and Sunday, so don’t build a weekend River North itinerary around it.

Weekday mornings right after opening tend to be calmest, before lunchtime shoppers and nearby office workers filter through. Since it functions as a working store, there’s no rush — you’re not competing with tour groups or timed-entry lines.

Pair it with the neighborhood

River North rewards a slow wander, and Medinah Temple works well as one stop among several.

• The Rookery Building and Loop architecture are a short ride south
• Tree Studios, another historic complex, sits just around the corner on State Street
• Merchandise Mart and its river-adjacent architecture boat tours are a few blocks west
• Michigan Avenue shopping is close enough for an afternoon combo

Give the temple itself 15–20 minutes: a slow circle outside to photograph the facade, then a pass through the ground floor inside.

How to visit like a local

Because this is a functioning store inside a landmark, the etiquette is simple: browse like a shopper, not a tourist ducking in for photos only.

• Photograph the exterior from across Wabash Ave, where you can fit the domes and full facade in frame without traffic clutter
• Go on a weekday, since weekend closures rule that option out entirely
• Pay by card as you would in any US department store — cash isn’t needed
• Don’t expect docents or plaques inside — the landmark story lives on the outside, so read up beforehand if you want the history rather than expecting it on-site
• Skip the rush hours around lunch near the Loop’s office towers if you want the sidewalk to yourself for photos

Because it’s under most visitors’ radar compared to Chicago’s marquee sights, you’ll likely have the exterior view mostly to yourself, even on a busy River North afternoon. That’s the real appeal here — a five-minute architectural surprise tucked into an ordinary shopping block, not a ticketed attraction demanding hours of your day.