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 was invited to visit the temple during an open house from Friday, 18 May through Saturday, 2 June 2012, excluding Sundays. The temple was formally dedicated on Sunday, 10 June 2012, in three sessions. The dedicatory sessions were broadcast to all congregations of the Church in Brazil.
In conjunction with the dedication of the temple, there was also a cultural celebration featuring music and dance held on Saturday, 9 June 2012, incorporating the talents of over 1,200 people. The cultural celebration was also broadcast to all Brazilian congregations. The production highlighted French, English and American West cultures that have come together in Manaus. It also emphasized the richness of plant and animal life in the region. At the end of the production, there was a tribute to the Mormon missionaries who have served and are serving there. Some had returned for the dedication of the Mormon temple. They attended a mission reunion and organized a local service project.
The Brazil Manaus Mission opened in 1990 under the direction of Elder Claudio R.M. Costa. At that time there was just one LDS stake in the city. Two years later, in 1992, the first group of Latter-day Saints made the long journey to the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple — selling much of what they owned to pay for the trip.
At the cornerstone-laying ceremony Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ compared the Latter-day Saints of the area to the Amazon River in their midst. As it flows deep and strong, so do the testimonies of those who live there.
- For almost 20 years, Latter-day Saints from Manaus, a city isolated by major rivers and rain forests, have been traveling by caravan to attend the temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil — a 15-day round trip journey by boat and bus — and then Caracas, Venezuela — an eight-day journey by bus. [1]
At a cornerstone laying ceremony for the new temple, President Uchtdorf applied the first finishing mortar. He was followed by Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, President Uchtdorf's wife, then Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife, Mary; Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy and executive director of the church's Temple Department and his wife, Vicki; members of the church's Brazil Area Presidency and members of the temple presidency. Children were then invited to add mortar to the cornerstone.
Torrential rain began to fall just as the cornerstone-laying ceremony ended.
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.
