The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened its new Mendoza Argentina Temple for the start of its public open-house period, beginning with a news conference and tours with media representatives on Monday, Aug. 19, in Mendoza, Argentina.
It was one of the Church’s two media days for new houses of the Lord, with similar events and tours happening simultaneously more than 2,350 miles to the northeast on the opposite side of South America with the Salvador Brazil Temple.
Welcoming the media to Monday’s events were Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and the members of the South America South Area presidency, which is headquartered in the Argentina capital of Buenos Aires and composed of General Authority Seventies — Elder Joaquin E. Costa, president; Elder Alan R. Walker, first counselor; and Elder Eduardo Gavarret, second counselor.
Monday’s media day signals the start of a multiweek opening of the Mendoza temple prior to its dedication in late September. Included in the media day events was the release of interior and exterior images of the new house of the Lord.
Following the media events, invited guests will tour the temple. The public open house begins Thursday, Aug. 22, and runs through Saturday, Sept. 7, excluding Sundays.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Mendoza Argentina Temple in two sessions on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to meetinghouses in the temple district.
Monday’s opening in Mendoza and the accompanying interior and exterior photographs were first published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
When dedicated, the house of the Lord in Mendoza will be the Church’s 197th operating temple, following the planned Sept. 15 dedication of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple. It will also be the fourth dedicated and operating temple in the southern South America nation of Argentina.
Temple background and details
President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Mendoza, Argentina, on Oct. 7, 2018, one of 12 temple locations identified during the October 2018 general conference.
On June 23, 2020, the Church released the exterior rendering, site location and initial design plans for the Mendoza temple, with plans calling for a temple of approximately 21,000 square feet with a single spire as well as construction of an adjacent meetinghouse and temple patron housing. The temple is located along Avenida Champagnat between Calle Dr. Pose and Calle Dr. Coni E., on the western edge of Mendoza’s northern suburb of Las Heras.
Ground was broken for the house of the Lord on Dec. 17, 2020, as a small group of Latter-day Saint leaders gathered at the future temple site in north-central Argentina, located within the foothills and high plains of the eastern side of the Andes. Elder Allen D. Haynie, a General Authority Seventy and then a member of the South America South Area presidency, offered a prayer and presided over the ceremony.
Clad with moleanos limestone from Portugal, the Mendoza temple — one main floor with a central tower — features architecture inspired by other regional religious and historical architecture.
The temple’s design motifs are based on the jarilla, a native five-petal flower, geometric and diamond patterns, which are inspired by the local plaza’s tiles; and the acquias, the water aqueducts and channels distinct to the Mendoza region. Those designs are accentuated in the temple’s art glass windows.
The 15-acre temple grounds — which includes the meetinghouse, arrival center and housing for temple leaders and out-of-area patrons — features gardens and a variety of trees, shrubs and perennial plants native to Argentina.
The Church and its temples in Argentina
The Mendoza temple is one of seven houses of the Lord in Argentina, where two German immigrants began preaching the gospel in 1923 and where more than 480,000 Church members now reside and comprise about 730 congregations.
Until now, Latter-day Saints in Mendoza have been part of the Córdoba Argentina Temple district, with that temple more than 400 miles to the northeast. The Santiago Chile Temple is only some 120 miles to the west, but the route by car or bus is double the distance and time-consuming over the rugged Andes Mountains.
The South American country’s first temple — the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple — was dedicated in 1986, followed by the Córdoba temple, dedicated in 2015. The Salta Argentina Temple was dedicated on June 16, 2024, just three months prior to the house of the Lord in Mendoza.
The Bahía Blanca Argentina Temple has been under construction since April 2022. Two more temples have been announced: one for the city center area of Buenos Aires, identified during the October 2022 general conference, and one for Rosario, announced by President Nelson at the conclusion of April 2024 general conference.
Mendoza Argentina Temple
Location: Avenida Champagnat, Las Heras, Mendoza, Argentina.
Announced: Oct. 7, 2018, by President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church.
Groundbreaking: Dec. 17, 2020, presided over by Elder Allen D. Haynie, a General Authority Seventy and then a member of the South America South Area presidency.
Public open house: Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, through Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 (excluding Sundays).
To be dedicated: Sept. 22, 2024, by Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Property size: 15 acres.
Building size: 21,999 square feet.
Building height: 110.23 feet (33.6 meters) to the top of the spire.
Additional photos
