Two Water Temples ... Why?!

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Bay Area's two water temples can be an unexpected finding if you stumble upon one. Stately, round, and featuring tall stone columns, the open-air structures look like they've been plucked right from ancient Rome. Bay Curious listener Will Hoffknecht wanted to know why these monuments exist and look the way they do. KQED’s Katherine Monahan traces their story back to the European colonization of San Francisco, and finds discontent about what they symbolize around our state. *This episode has been updated to include that the SFPUC is constructing an interpretive center at the Sunol Water temple and is working with the Muwekma Ohlone Nation to include an exhibit about their history. Additional Reading: Triumph or Insult? The Complicated Legacy of the Bay Area’s Water Temples Read a transcript of this episode Watch: Hetch Hetchy: To Restore Or Not Archival material about Hetch Hetchy from the National Archives Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katherine Monahan. This episode of Bay Curious was made by Olivia Allen-Price, Bianca Taylor, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad and Holly Kernan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED. Eight years ago, I'm out on my bicycle on Kinyata Road in San Mateo.
0:08.6	It's a hot summer day and I'm totally out of water feeling thirsty and starting to
0:16.3	panic. That's when I see a sign for Pulgis Water Temple next to an open gate.
0:21.8	Water Temple? I think I've never heard temple next to an open gate.
0:22.6	Water temple?
0:23.9	I think, I've never heard of such a thing.
0:26.5	Is it religious, some kind of public space?
0:30.0	But most importantly, is there a water fountain there?
0:35.0	Once inside the gate, I do find some water, but also something utterly strange and surprising.
0:41.0	A stately rotunda that looks like it was plucked right out of ancient Rome,
0:46.4	tall stone columns, ornate carvings, even an aquamarine reflecting pool.
0:52.6	What is this place, I wonder?
0:55.5	Turns out, Polgas Water Temple
0:57.1	is something of a roadside attraction
0:59.0	off nearby Interstate 280.
1:00.8	It was just one of the things that you would see on the highway and
1:04.3	I'd go take pictures of it.
1:06.1	Becurious listener Will Hoffnick of Patterson, California enjoys photography and
1:10.6	has been drawn to take pictures of this architectural oddity over the years.
1:15.0	He was curious enough about this water temple initially,
1:18.0	but then he found another one.
1:20.0	Then there's Sunnell, which is, yeah, the one in Sunnoll off the 680.
	...

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