The Nauvoo Temple

Announcement: 4 April 1999
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 24 October 1999 by Gordon B. Hinckley
Public Open House: 6 May–22 June 2002
Dedication: 27–30 June 2002 by Gordon B. Hinckley

Temple Facts

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is a reconstruction of the original Nauvoo Temple built in the 1840s and destroyed by fire in 1848.

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is the second of the operating temples built in Illinois, following the Chicago Illinois Temple (1985).

Unlike most Latter-day Saint temples, the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and its statue of the angel Moroni face west.

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple has beautiful hand-painted murals on the walls of its Creation Room, Garden Room, World Room, Terrestrial Room (no murals), and Celestial Room (no murals).

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple was dedicated on the very day and hour of the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The dedication of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was delivered over the Church's satellite system.