Caracas Venezuela Temple

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Caracas Venezuela Temple

Number	96	edit data
Announcement	1995-09-30
Groundbreaking	1999-01-10 by Francisco J. Viñas
Open House	5 August - 12 August 2000
Dedication	2000-08-20 by Gordon B. Hinckley
Location	Calle C1 con Avenida C Urbanización Caurimare Caracas, Distrito Federal Venezuela
Phone number	(58) 212-985-9123
Site	0.5 acres (0.2 hectares)
Total floor area	15,332 sq ft (1,424 m²)
Exterior finish	Granite
Temple design	Classic modern, single-spire design
Ordinance rooms	2
Sealing rooms	2
Clothing rental	No
Cafeteria	No services
Visitors' center	No
Preceded by	Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple
Followed by	Houston Texas Temple
Official website • News & Images

The Caracas Venezuela Temple is the 96th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans to construct a Mormon temple in Venezuela. Immediately following that announcement, a search was conducted to find a suitable site on which to build. Several properties were considered over the next eighteen months but none was chosen. It was finally decided the temple would be built in the city of Caracas on land that the Church already owned.^[1] The groundbreaking of the Caracas Venezuela Temple took place in 1999.

Unexpected obstacles occurred during the construction of the temple. When digging the foundation, excavators discovered an underground spring. Once the water was diverted, the excavation continued. However, the digging caused two major landslides. The first landslide did not cause any damage, but the second did. Eight tons of earth and materials were shifted in the slide. Despite these setbacks, the work was completed in just over a year and a half.

Nearly six thousand members of the Mormon Church attended the dedication of the Caracas Venezuela Mormon Temple on August 20, 2000. The temple was dedicated by President Hinckley. The Caracas Venezuela Temple has a total of 15,332 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms. Since 2007, the Caracas Temple is presided, for the first time, by a venezuelan.