Interesting facts, information, and data concerning the
temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- On April 2, 2023, President Russell M. Nelson announced that a temple would be built in Iquitos, Peru. This is the largest city in the world that has no road or ground access. It can only be reached by boat or by airplane! It sits on the banks of the great Amazon River. On that same day, President Nelson also announced that a temple would be built in Cusco, Peru. This temple will be located at an elevation of 11,512 feet above sea level!
- One of our tallest temples is the Washington, D.C. Temple, reaching a height of 288 feet. One of the shortest temples is the Mesa Arizona Temple at a height of 50 feet.
- For many years the Salt Lake Temple has been the temple with the most square feet of floor space, with 382,207 square feet. This could change after the recent renovation. The Los Angeles California Temple has 190,610 square feet and the Washington D.C. Temple has 160,000 square feet. Click here for more information about square-footage of the larger temples.
- Some of the smaller temples, with the fewest square feet of floor space, are the Colonia Juarez Mexico Temple with 6,800 square feet and the Yigo Guam Temple with a square-footage of 6,891 square feet. Square footages of temples can be viewed here.
- The temple with the longest name is the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple, consisting of 42 letters. The Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple also has a long name. More information about the length of temple’s names can be found at this link.
- The distinction of being the temple with the shortest name is shared by several temples. Those temples are Lima Peru Temple, Suva Fiji Temple, Salt Lake Temple, Yigo Guam Temple, and the Orem Utah Temple. A temple has been announced for Lehi, Utah. That temple will join the group of ‘shortest names’ when it is dedicated. More information about the length of temple’s names can be found at this link.
- The weathervane atop the original Nauvoo Temple was unique. It displayed an angel in a horizontal position, as if in flight, holding an open book in one hand and a horn to his lips with the other.
- The first year in which more than one temple was dedicated was the year 1958. That year, the Hamilton New Zealand Temple (April 20) and the London England Temple (September 7) were both dedicated. Click here to see the years in which our temples were dedicated.
- Four former presidents of the Church did not have the opportunity of dedicating a temple during their service as President. They are Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, and Harold B. Lee. Click here for more temple dedication information regarding various church leaders.
- One of our sacred temples was dedicated on the 158th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, that being June 27, 2002. That temple, fittingly, was the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. Click here to see all temple dedication dates.
- President and Sister Jeffrey R. Holland were the ones who suggested the name ‘Red Cliffs Utah Temple’. It is apparent the Hollands were consulted, as Elder Holland was raised in St. George.
- Click here to see interesting ‘first temple’ facts.
- Two-temple cities: Cities that currently have or soon will have two temples within the city limits includes:
- South Jordan, Utah (River Jordan and Oquirrh Mountain temples)
- Provo, Utah (Provo Rock Canyon and Provo City Center temples)
- Lima, Peru (Lima and Lima Los Olivos temples)
- Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Rexburg, Idaho
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Cities with two temples and many other interesting temple facts can be found here.
- A temple is being constructed in Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that is unreachable by ground transportation. It is located in the Amazon rainforest and can only be accessed by airplane or by boat on the Amazon River.
- The Manti Utah Temple and the Ephraim Utah Temple are only 7 miles apart!
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