The construction phase has begun for the Iquitos Peru Temple, a house of the Lord for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world’s largest city inaccessible by road.
Groundbreaking services were Saturday, Oct. 10, in Iquitos, the capital city of Maynas Province in the Peruvian Amazon. Elder Sandino Román, a General Authority Seventy and member of the South America Northwest Area presidency who presided at the event, said the temple will become a city landmark.
Elder Román offered remarks and a prayer dedicating the site and the construction process during the services, which were attended by local Church leaders and members as well as government, interfaith, civic and educational leaders, according to ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“We are especially grateful for the construction of a temple in Iquitos and for the faith of those who have waited and worked for this glorious day to arrive,” Elder Román prayed. “Please bless the members of Thy Church in Iquitos, and may this construction bring blessings to the community and contribute to the well-being and prosperity of this city.”
Iquitos is reached only by air or river, the latter primarily via the Amazon River. Latter-day Saints living in and around Iquitos have to travel long distances — often by air — to attend the temple. Four stakes are headquartered in Iquitos alone, and they are assigned currently to the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple district, with that house of the Lord some 630 miles (nearly 1,015 kilometers) to the southwest.
The groundbreaking marked the first time since 2019 that construction had started for a Latter-day Saint temple in the country. The Iquitos temple is one of 10 in various stages throughout Peru and the farthest north of all 10.
Attendees at the event included Dr. Sandra Chumpitaz Santillán, prefect of the Loreto region; Dr. Federico Marco Ventre Ferro, honorary consul of Italy for Amazonas, Loreto and San Martín; Maj. Chrystiam Tavara Reyes of the General Command of the Air Force; and other local leaders.
The Iquitos groundbreaking was one of two for the Church on Saturday, Oct. 10 — with both in South America. Ground was broken for the Maceió Brazil Temple as well.
Pablo Tulumba Torres, patriarch for the Iquitos Peru Stake and the fourth young missionary from Iquitos to serve a mission, spoke at the event and highlighted the Church’s history in the area. The first stake was organized in 1980, and the Perú Iquitos Mission was created in 2013.
About the Iquitos temple and Church in Peru
On April 2, 2023, then-President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Iquitos, Peru, during the April 2023 general conference. It was one of 15 houses of the Lord he announced that day.
As previously announced, the Iquitos temple is projected to be a 20,000-square-foot structure on a 1.8-acre site at Calle San Marcos 117-137, San Juan Bautista, Iquitos, Maynas, Loreto, in northern Peru.
Four of the country’s 10 temples are dedicated and operating: the Lima Peru Temple (dedicated in 1986), Trujillo Peru Temple (2015), Arequipa Peru Temple (2019) and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple (2024).
With the Iquitos temple moving into the construction stage, two have site locations — for the Cusco and Piura temples, released in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
That leaves three more temples planned for Peru that don’t yet have site locations: for Chiclayo (announced 2022), Huancayo (2023) and Chorrillos (2025).
On Jan. 1, 1956, Frederick S. Williams — a former mission president in Argentina and Uruguay — moved to Peru with his family. He contacted Church headquarters for permission to organize a branch and begin missionary work.
A branch in Lima was subsequently organized on July 8, 1956, and four missionaries arrived on Aug. 7, 1956.
The Andes Mission, headquartered in Lima, was established on Nov. 1, 1959. There were 300 Church members and five branches at the time.
Today, more than 667,000 Latter-day Saints reside in just over 800 wards and branches in Peru.
