The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened the doors to the new Salta Argentina Temple for the media and public to tour what will soon be the Church’s third operating temple in Argentina and the 194th dedicated house of the Lord worldwide.
For Latter-day Saints in both Salta and the province of the same name, the new temple will be a welcome addition to north Argentina, where the closest location for them to participate in temple ordinances and make sacred covenants requires a drive of some 10 hours.
The Salta Argentina Temple opened Monday, April 29, to local media representatives with a news briefing followed by a tour of the temple. Welcoming the media were the Church’s South America South Area presidency — Elder Craig C. Christensen and his counselors, Elder Joaquin E. Costa and Elder Alan R. Walker, all General Authority Seventies — and Elder Shayne M. Bowen, another General Authority Seventy who is an assistant executive director with the Temple Department.
In conjunction with the media day, the Church released interior and exterior images of the Salta temple as well as additional information on the sacred edifice Monday morning on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Following Monday’s media day activities, invited guests will visit the temple prior to its public open house, which will run from Friday, May 3, through Saturday, May 18, excluding Sundays.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Salta Argentina Temple on Sunday, June 16, in two sessions, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to all units in the temple district.
Salta temple background and features
President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Salta in the mountainous northwest region of the southeastern South American nation, one of seven temples the President of the Church identified at the close of the April 2018 general conference.
An exterior rendering of the temple was released on June 5, showing a single-story edifice with an attached central tower.
Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, a General Authority Seventy and then-president of the South America South Area, presided at the Nov. 4, 2020, groundbreaking ceremony. It was the third groundbreaking date set for the Salta temple, in the country’s northwest area. COVID-19 concerns had postponed previously scheduled dates in mid-August and early October of 2020.
The 27,111-square-foot Salta temple is built on a 17.66-acre site across from the airport in the city’s southern area. An accommodation center and meetinghouse have been built on the property, as well as a residence for the temple president and matron.
A concrete structure with Portuguese Moleanos stone cladding and a central tower with a domed cupola on top, the single-story building features architecture influenced by the heritage of the Salta region and design based on the local environment and cultural motifs.
Complimenting the temple’s rectangular windows is a multi-arch entrance, with main-entry archway flanked by smaller ones.
Design elements include the cardon cactus flower and the “guarda pampa” pattern from regional costumes and handicrafts. The color palette features blue, green, yellow, red and ocher.
The Church in Argentina
After two German immigrants — Wilhelm Friedrichs and Emil Hoppe — began the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Buenos Aires in 1923, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Apostle Melvin J. Ballard there in 1925 to establish the South American Mission.
“The work of the Lord will grow slowly for a time here, just as an oak grows slowly from an acorn,” said Elder Ballard before returning from Argentina, adding that “the South American Mission will be a power in the Church.”
While the Church grew slowly at first in the country, Argentine members shouldered the work of local leadership and missionary efforts in the 1940s when foreign missionaries were withdrawn because of World War II. With foreign missionaries returning in 1946, growth accelerated.
The 1950s saw a building program not only provide local meetinghouses for the country’s expanding Church members but also on-the-job training to young men called on building missions.
The Church’s first stake was created in 1966 in the capital city of Buenos Aires, followed by others. Today more than 481,000 Latter-day Saints worship in nearly 730 congregations throughout Argentina.
The Salta temple will be third dedicated house of the Lord in Argentina, with operating temples in Buenos Aires (dedicated in 1986) and Córdoba (2015). A fourth in Mendoza was recently announced for a September dedication. A fifth temple is under construction in Bahía Blanca, with two more houses of the Lord announced for the southern South American nation — in planning for Buenos Aires’ city center and Rosario.
Salta Argentina Temple
Location: Ing. Mario Saúl Banchik No. 6050, Salta, Salta Province, Argentina
Announced: April 1, 2018, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: Nov. 4, 2020, by Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, General Authority Seventy
Public open house: May 3 through May 18, 2024, excluding Sundays
To be dedicated: June 16, 2024, by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 17.66 acres
Building size: 27,111 square feet
Building height: 100 feet, 5 inches, including the spire
Additional photos
