A public open house for the Arequipa Peru Temple begins this week.
The open house will be held from Friday, Nov. 15, to Saturday, Nov. 30, excluding Sundays. Tour hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and no reservations are needed.
President Russell M. Nelson will dedicate the temple on Sunday, Dec. 15, with a youth devotional to be held the evening before. The temple will be open for patrons beginning Thursday, Dec. 19.
The interior design features the “flor de Texao Arequipa,” which is used in the art-glass windows, stonework, metal fixtures, carved hardwood and the flooring decorative painting. Perlantino marble tiling from Italy and multi-colored woolen area rugs from China can be found on the interior floors.
Near the main entrance of the temple is a Spanish-style water fountain, similar to those seen in other courtyards and plazas in the city of Arequipa. The landscape and outdoor gardens feature grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs native to the region, including the caututa, Peru’s national flower.
The temple in Arequipa is Peru’s third completed temple. Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the Seventy presided at the groundbreaking service on March 4, 2017. The temple was announced by President Thomas S. Monson in the October 2012 general conference.
The two other completed temples in Peru are located in Lima and Trujillo. The second temple in the city of Lima, the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, is currently under construction, and ground was broken on June 8. Lima will be the first city outside of the United States to have two temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
There are more than 605,000 members of the Church in Peru. Read more about the Arequipa Peru Temple on Newsroom.
