Doors Open for Public Tours of the Arequipa Peru Temple

A public open house will begin this week for the Arequipa Peru Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is the country’s third temple. Peru has a Church membership of more than 605,000.

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The free open house begins on Friday, November 15, and continues through Saturday, November 30, 2019. The temple will be closed on Sundays during that time, November 17 and 24. The tour hours are Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. No reservations are needed.

The temple will be dedicated by President Russell M. Nelson on Sunday, December 15, 2019, and a youth devotional will be held on Saturday, December 14.

A stylized version of the Flor de Texao Arequipa, is used in many places throughout the temple — in the carved hardwood, art glass windows, metal fixtures, stonework and flooring decorative painting.

The Flor de Texao Arequipa is also featured in the art glass window panels on the exterior of the temple. Of special note are the large windows on the landing and at both central axes of the structure.

In addition to white and cream carpets, interior floors feature Perlantino marble tiling from Italy as well as multi-colored woolen area rugs from China.

The temple’s walls and corridors are adorned with giclee prints of familiar and beloved artwork depicting the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

A Spanish-style water fountain near the main entrance of the temple is of similar design to those seen in other plazas and courtyards of Arequipa.

The landscape design highlights a mixture of grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees native to the region that beautify the gardens surrounding the temple. Among the many plants found in the gardens are the cantuta, the national flower of Peru; the queñua, a small Andean tree found at higher elevations; and the achupaya, traditionally used in Incan handicrafts. There are dozens of additional flowering trees, evergreens and palms.

Patrons will be able to enter the temple on Thursday, December 19.

Other temples in Peru are located in Lima and Trujillo and a fourth, the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, is currently under construction. Ground was broken earlier this year.

Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the “house of the Lord” and the most sacred places of worship on the earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples, however, is for faithful members of the Church to participate in sacred ceremonies, such as marriages that unite families forever and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity while living. Find out more about temples.