Manaus Brazil Temple
On 20 June 2008 a groundbreaking ceremony was held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the construction of the Manaus Brazil Temple. The intent to build another temple in Brazil was first announced on 23 May 2007. The Manaus Brazil Temple is the 138th for the Church of Jesus Christ.
The temple is located at Estrada da Ponta Negra, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Manaus is the capital of Amazonas province. The site is just 11 miles north of the confluence of the Negro River and the Amazon River. This temple is unique in that it will be port-accessible from a landing on the Negro River for temple attendees arriving by boat.
This will be Brazil's sixth temple. Other temples are located in Campinas, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife and Sao Paulo, and construction has begun on the Fortaleza temple. For the thousands of saints of northern Brazil who for years have traveled days to reach the Caracas Venezuela Temple, Recife Brazil Temple, or São Paulo Brazil Temple, a temple in Manaus is a blessing indeed ("Temple to be erected in Manaus, Brazil," Church News 2 Jun. 2007:7). This temple will serve 40,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ in the general area.
The first two Mormon converts in Brazil were baptized in 1929. Now there are over 1.1 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the country.
The public is invited to visit the temple during an open house from Friday, 18 May through Saturday, 2 June 2012, excluding Sundays. The temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, 10 June 2012, in three sessions. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all congregations of the Church in Brazil. In conjunction with the dedication of the temple, there will also be a cultural celebration featuring music and dance on Saturday, 9 June 2012. The cultural celebration will also be broadcast to all Brazilian congregations.
Details and Updates
The Manaus Brazil Temple is just over 32,000 square feet. It is 112 feet tall without including the 14-foot gilded statue of the Angel Moroni – total height 126 feet. The temple sits on 7.7 acres. The exterior of the Manaus Brazil Mormon temple is constructed of Branco Paris granite from Brazil. The traditional stained glass designs were created by Art Glass Studios, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
The interior color scheme is blue and earth tones. Murals were created by Alexandre Reider, original art by Leon Parson and Alexandre Reider. The interior stone flooring is Giallo Ornamental granite, accented with Giallo Jasmine and Azul Imperial granite from Brazil, and Emperador Light and Crème Marfil marble accents from Turkey and Spain. The majority of wood used in the interior design is ipe and tauari wood from Brazil. The chandeliers are custom-designed Tiffany-style lead glass and Swarovski crystal.
The architects were GSBS Architect, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and JCL Arquitetos, Olinda, Brazil. The general contractor was Construtora Hoss, São Paulo, Brazil.
