Originally, trenches were dug every 10 to 15 feet across the property, since construction could not continue if Roman ruins were discovered.  Latter-day Saints in the area held a special fast in the hope that the site (which the Church purchased in the 1990’s) would be free of antiquities.  No antiquities were discovered anywhere on the 15 acres, yet a Roman village was discovered just 100 yards beyond the property’s boundary.

The Rome Italy Temple will be the first temple in Italy and in the Mediterranean region. For years, Italian Saints have traveled the long distance to the Bern Switzerland Temple, which now serves more stakes and districts from Italy than from any other country.  The temple will be the twelfth built in Europe.

The first Mormon missionaries arrived in Italy in the 1850’s, including Lorenzo Snow, future prophet of the Church.  The early converts (slightly over 200) emigrated to the United States, and the mission was closed.  Attempts to obtain permission for missionaries to come again to Italy were rebuffed by the Italian government in 1900.  The Church was finally reestablished in 1951, and the Church has made a movie about the first convert, Vincenzo di Francesca, who found a charred Book of Mormon in a trash bin.  It was missing its cover and title page, so at first, he had no idea what he was reading.  Italians who had converted outside of Italy returned to the country.  In 1964, there were over 200 members in Italy.

Missionaries were again allowed to proselyte in Italy in 1965.  Today, there are about 23,000 members in the country.  The Church is hoping to gain government approval granted to the Catholic Church and others.  Signed by the prime minister in 2007, the “concordate” must still be approved by parliament.

The first Mormon missionaries arrived in the country of Ukraine in October 1990, and in June 1991 the Kiev Branch was formed. In September 1991, Elder Boyd K. Packer and Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Mormon Church arrived to dedicate the land for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And finally, in October 1991, the missionary work officially began. During 1992, Mormon missionaries began preaching outside of Kiev; preaching in Donetsk, Gorlovka, and Khar’kov. In July 1993, the Ukraine Donetsk Mission was formed.

With the membership of the Mormon Church growing at a steady rate the past thirteen years, and with the dedication and faithfulness of its members, the announcement to build a Mormon Temple was announced by the First Presidency on July 20, 1998.  (2006 church statistics show over 10,000 members in Ukraine.)

In 2002, while on a trip to Europe to rededicate the Freiberg Germany Temple and dedicate the Hague Netherlands Temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley visited the Ukrainian Church members. He encouraged them to remain faithful, but he did not reveal the site for the temple in Kiev, which he had announced four years earlier. During the trip, President Hinckley did meet with Viktor Bondarenko, chairman of the state committee on religious affairs in Ukraine, who was assisting the Church in acquiring property for the building of the Mormon Temple. During a trip to Utah, Mr. Bondarenko indicated that securing the property for the temple had been a major complication since it required about 3 or 4 hectares (1 hectare: 10,000 sq meters or 2.47 acres); but indicated that the process was being finalized.1

With the founding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Ukraine, many members have found a life that they never knew existed before. “…Before I met the missionaries, I asserted that life was a pool of hopeless boredom and hardships where people tried to entertain themselves as they could…I can’t help standing all amazed at the love the Lord has offered me,” expressed Vadim Malishkevich.

The groundbreaking for the Kiev Ukraine Mormon Temple was held on 23 June 2007 with Paul B. Pieper presiding.  The temple is scheduled for completion in mid-2010.  Details of the temple interior will include traditional Ukrainian art.

Update — April, 2010

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple is the Church’s first in Eastern Europe and the 11th overall on the European continent. It will serve approximately 31,000 members of the Church living in 13 European countries. Other European temples of the Church are located in Bern, Switzerland (dedicated 1955); London, England (1958); Freiberg, Germany (1985); Stockholm, Sweden (1985); Frankfurt, Germany (1987); Preston, England (1998); Madrid, Spain (1999); The Hague, Netherlands (2002); Copenhagen, Denmark (2004); and Helsinki, Finland (2006). A temple to be built in Rome, Italy, was announced in October 2008.

It is customary for Latter-day Saints to open the doors of their temples to the public before they are dedicated. It is expected that many thousands of visitors will come to this temple open house to tour the temple and learn about the highest rites of the faith that take place there.

“We are very pleased to be able to invite our friends and neighbors to tour the temple and learn more about this sacred structure,” said Elder Wolfgang H. Paul, president of the Church’s Europe East Area. “We know that many people have passed by the temple during construction and wondered about its purpose. Soon we will be able to welcome them to the temple and explain why the temple is known as the house of the Lord.”

The Kiev Ukraine Temple open house was held August 7 – 21, 2010.  A youth cultural celebration for the Kyiv Ukraine Temple was slated for Saturday, August 28, 2010, at Palace “Ukraine” located at Velyka Vasylkivska str., 103. The temple was to be dedicated on August 29 by LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson in three sessions.  August 30 would be the opening day for ordinances to be performed.

The temple is located at 1 Yabluneva Street, Sofiivs’ka Borshchagivka, Kyivs’ka Oblast, Ukraine.

For more information about the Mormon Church or Mormon Temples, please see the following websites:

Mormon Church
Mormon Temples

The area of the London Temple has a rich history. At the time of early Christianity Celts, Romans, Saxons, and Danes occupied the area; now, Sir Winston Churchill’s property adjoins the grounds of the Temple.

After the property was purchased for the building of the temple, President David O. McKay and Church architect Edward Anderson spent time deciding where to place the Temple. Land selected by President McKay “had been partially covered by a lily pond, which had left the ground marshy, and the engineers feared that it would not be suitable for the Temple’s foundation. President McKay, however, insisted, that this was where the Temple was to be built. When work began on the site, workers discovered that beneath the boggy ground was solid shale at the proper depth to support the temple.”1

Upon its completion, the Mormon Temple’s doors were opened to members and non-members alike for three weeks. At that time more than seventy-six thousand people toured the temple, whereas only fifty thousand had been expected. In September 1958, President David O. McKay dedicated the London Temple: “This is a great day for the members of the Church in Great Britain…The temple is the opening of a new era”, stated President McKay. Following the open house and dedication of the Mormon Temple, there were over twelve hundred convert baptisms within the next year.2

After thirty-two years, the London Temple was closed for remodeling and refurbishing. An additional 8,500 feet was added, as well as a fourth floor. This time, the temple open house was preceded by the distribution of posters and flyers and personal invitations throughout the area. In addition, advertisements and stories in local and national newspapers were placed, and radio ads were featured by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

In October 1992, Mormon Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley rededicated the London Temple. It was “…the best single event in terms of its effect on the general public that we’ve ever had in Britain,” stated Bryan Grant, UK public affairs director for the Mormon Church.3

Mailing address:
West Park Road
Newchapel
Surrey RH7 6HW
ENGLAND
United Kingdom
Phone:   (44) 1342-832-759

For more information about the Mormon Church or Temples please see the following websites:

Mormon Temples
Mormon Beliefs

The Bern temple, originally known as the Swiss temple, is also known for another first; it was the first temple to use a video presentation of the endowment ceremony. This was done because so many of the patrons of the Bern temple speak different languages. The films made it easier to meet the needs of those attending. Mormon history in the area is long and rich. The first mission was opened on November 24, 1850. The first Mormon missionary president was Thomas B. H. Stenhouse. It was in Switzerland in 1906 that Joseph F. Smith, who was the president of the Mormon Church at the time, made a prophecy that temples would be built in various countries of the world.  At the time the prophecy was far from being fulfilled; there were only four temples in operation, and all of them were in Utah. Procuring the site where David O. McKay wanted to build the Bern Temple was a difficult task. There were 30 heirs with claim to the property, and it took much negotiation.  In the end the originally-chosen site was not available, and the site where the temple now stands was found and purchased in a short space of time.

A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication were held on August 5, 1953. President of the Mormon Church at the time, David O. McKay, presided at the ceremony and dedication. The temple site sits on seven acres in the village of Zollikofen, just at the edge of a national forest. The capital city of Switzerland, Bern, is just south of the temple. The design of the temple is modern, with a single spire. The exterior is finished with reinforced concrete, covered in cream terra cotta facing and trimmed in white. The temple has a total floor area of 35,546 square feet and provides members with four ordinance rooms and seven sealing rooms.

David O. McKay originally dedicated the temple September 11th through the 15th 1955. Many in attendance at the dedication had traveled very long distances and wanted to be able to attend a temple session, so sessions started the day after the dedication at 5:00 in the morning. By the end of the day 22 sessions had been held in the temple, at which 900 people had been in attendance. After a two-and-a-half year extensive renovation, President Gordon B. Hinckley rededicated the temple October 23rd through the 25th 1992. The renovation updated the interior and added more endowment and sealing rooms. In 2005 another addition was added to the Bern temple. An angel Moroni was added to the spire to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the temple. The Bern Mormon temple serves 39,000 members in 10 stakes in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Physical Address:
TEMPELSTRASSE 2
CH-3052 ZOLLIKOFEN
SWITZERLAND

Mailing address:
Tempelstrasse 4 – Postfach
CH-3052 Zollikofen
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland
Phone:   (41) 31-915-5252

Other Links:

Mormanity: Mormon Temples and “Secrecy”
History of Mormon Temples – Lightplanet.com

Search for Mormon temples at LDSsearch.com

The Copenhagen Denmark Temple is a renovation of an existing building, the Priorvej Chapel. This chapel was built by Mormon members in 1931 and dedicated by Elder John A. Widtsoe, a member of the Twelve Apostles at the time. It was built in the Neo-classical style with columns in the front.

This building has had a long and interesting history. The day that the chapel was dedicated, June 14, was the eighty-first anniversary of the day that the first Mormon missionaries arrived in Denmark. During World War II, the chapel was used as a bomb shelter, and it luckily made it through the war with little damage. After World War II the chapel was remodeled to hold more classrooms for the growing membership. Compared with many other countries, growth of the Church in Denmark seems a little slow, but the lower population of members in Denmark may mostly be because so many of the early members emigrated to Utah, and others moved to one of the countries with which Denmark has strong ties. However, the membership of 4,500 is strong and faithful.

Many Mormon members in the area feel a very strong connection to the chapel that has now become a Mormon temple. Ole Ravn-Petersen was baptized into the Mormon Church when he was 16. His baptism took place in the Priorvej Chapel and later, he baptized his father in the building. For Ole Ravn-Petersen, having the building become a temple made the place even more special. Most of the renovation of the building was done on the inside. The Church wanted to keep the outside looking as it did originally.

April 29-May 15, 2004, an open house was held to let people see the inside of the temple. More than 25,000 people took a tour through the temple during that time. The dedication of the temple was held on Sunday May 23, 2004. More than 4,000 members attended the dedication, which was held four times throughout the day. President Gordon B. Hinckley gave the dedicatory prayer and Elder Russell M. Nelson also spoke.

Physical Address:
PRIORVEJ 12
2000 FREDERIKSBERG
DENMARK

Mailing address:
Priorvej 11, 4F
2000 Frederiksberg
DENMARK
Denmark
Phone:   (45) 38-18-1818

Other Links:

Temple (Mormonism) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LDS (Mormon) Temple Resources
LDS Temples – Mormon Temples – Salt Lake Temple

Worthy members of the Church have been attending the Stockholm Sweden Temple to fulfill their obligations to the Lord and to bless their lives in attending the temple. Now, they are blessed to have a temple in their midst.

Church members attend the temple to learn more about the purpose of life and to strengthen their commitment to Jesus Christ. Christ’s teachings are reiterated through marriage, baptism, and other ordinances through which families can be united for eternity.

The site chosen for the new temple, and which was approved by the city, sits northwest of downtown Helsinki on 7.5 acres, in the city of Espoo, Finland. The angel Moroni statue, along with the gleaming copper 45-meter spire, and the building exterior of Finnish light gray granite will prove to be a brilliant landmark for the country of Finland. 1

Mormon Church Relations representative, Seija Linnanen, who interacted with the workers on the Temple, was quite impressed with the respect they showed in their language and attitude toward the Mormon Temple. They refrained from smoking as well as listening to the radio, which seemed to convey that they understood and felt that the temple grounds warranted reverence and respect.

The First Presidency of the Mormon Church announced a public open house for the Helsinki Temple beginning on September 23, 2006 and ending on October 7, 2006. Though Church membership numbered only 4,500 in this Lutheran nation after 59 years of proselyting, response to the public open house of the Helsinki Finland Temple was staggering. Of the 55,633 total visitors, 5,711 submitted comment cards and 2,713 requested a Book of Mormon delivered by missionaries (LDSChurchTemples.com).

At the time of its dedication, the Helsinki Finland Temple assumed a temple district that stretched over two continents and 12 time zones, including the Baltic states and the entire country of Russia.

The Helsinki Finland Temple was the last temple dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley before his passing on Sunday, January 27, 2008. He had dedicated or rededicated 98 of the 124 operating temples of the Church.

Mailing address:
Leppäsillantie 3
02620 Espoo
Finland
Phone:   (358) 9-849-3710

<!– Temple History=¹

Mormon missionary Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, first entered the Netherlands in 1841. He stayed for a little more than a week preaching the gospel, but he had really been sent to go to Jerusalem. It was not until twenty years later in 1861 when the first Mormon missionaries were officially sent to the Netherlands. On October 1, 1861, near the village Broek bij Akkerwoude, the first converts to the Mormon Church in the Netherlands were baptized. People from the Netherlands joined the Mormon Church by the thousands; most emigrated to the United States to be in Utah near Church headquarters, but the Church leadership has since asked members to stay in their own lands and build up the Church there. The Mormon Church has continued to steadily grow in the Netherlands. There are now three stakes and 7,800 members.

A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication was held on August 26, 2000. The site chosen for the temple is in a city park. Temple construction quickly began. Because the site bought by the Church is only slightly larger than the 14,500 square foot temple, a parking garage and Beehive Clothing store were built underneath the temple. This is something that is not found in any other Mormon temple. The Hague, Netherlands temple has two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms.

An open house for the public was held August 17-31 2002. The open house allowed many to see the interior of the temple and learn more about the sacred place it has in the Mormon Church.

President of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, dedicated The Hague, Netherlands Mormon Temple for use on September 8, 2002. In the dedicatory prayer President Hinckley not only dedicated the temple for use, but also blessed the country and the people that they would be free and prosper. Of the dedication ceremony President Hinckley stated, “four sessions were held. What a touching and wonderful experience that was.”

Mailing address:
Osijlaan 2
2722 CV Zoetermeer
NETHERLANDS

Temple: Information from Answers.com
Mormon Temple Ordinances – ReligionFacts.com
Mormanity: Mormon Temples and “Secrecy”
History of Mormon Temples – Lightplanet.com

Phone:   (31) 79-343-5310

The gifts and blessings of the Mormon temple are offered to all who conform to the requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All who accept and live the gospel and keep themselves worthy may partake of them. Mormon temple work must be done first by each person for himself; then it may be done for those who have passed on. All who have lived will have the opportunity to either accept or reject the work that has been done for them in the Mormon temple.1

It was here in Preston, England that the Mormon Church first took root in the British Isles, with Mormon missionaries arriving in 1837. There were seven of them, led by Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde. They arrived in Liverpool, and within the first week fifty people were baptized; and after nine months of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nearly two thousand people were converted to the gospel. The success of these Mormon missionaries brought a flood of converts from Britain.
Many of those converts emigrated to the United States, taking with them their strengths and talents in hopes of helping the Mormon Church at such a critical time in history. This exodus, combined with two world wars and economic difficulties, kept many Mormon congregations in the British Isles small and struggling.
Before 1951, there were only 6,500 members in the United Kingdom. With the addition of more Mormon missionaries and the approach of teaching the Gospel by the Spirit, the Mormon Church saw 1,000 people baptized that year.2

Because of the history of the Church and the growth of membership in Preston, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that this would be the site for Britain’s second temple. The Mormon Temple is located in Chorley, Lancashire, England (a suburb of Preston), and is the centerpiece of a 15-acre complex that includes a stake center, a missionary training center, a family history facility, a distribution center, temple patron housing, temple missionary accommodations, and a grounds building. The temple itself, with its exterior of white granite and zinc roof, has been described as “reminiscent to the old churches built in this land many years ago.”3

The interior includes four ordinance rooms, four sealing rooms, celestial room, baptistry, marriage guest waiting room, and a reception room at the entrance to the temple.  Here, members of the temple’s presidency welcome groups of children and other visitors who do not have recommends to enter the building proper.

President Gordon B. Hinckley,  late Mormon Prophet, dedicated the Preston England Mormon Temple on June 7, 1998. “A [Mormon] temple is a unique structure: a monument to our convictions, belief and knowledge that life is eternal; that we go on living after death.”3

Mailing address:
Temple Way, Hartwood Green
Chorley
Lancashire PR6 7EQ
ENGLAND
United Kingdom
Phone:   (44) 1257-226-102

To learn more about the Mormon Temples please visit the following websites:

Mormanity: Mormon Temples and “Secrecy”
History of Mormon Temples

Mormon history in Germany goes back to 1840 when members of the Mormon Church began moving there. A small branch was set up in Darmstadt, but it was not until 1852 when the first Mormon missionaries arrived in Germany. They brought with them the Book of Mormon in German. In 1939 with the onset of World War II, missionaries were evacuated from Germany, and missionary work slowed. After the war, missionaries were only allowed to re-enter the Western part of Germany. It was not until March 1989 when Mormon missionaries were finally able to enter Eastern Germany; in November of the same year, the Berlin wall came down. Today there are 36,000 Mormon members in Germany, two temples—Frankfurt and Freiberg—and 14 stakes.

A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication were held on April 23, 1983. Thomas S. Monson presided at the ceremony. The site of the temple is one acre. The Mormon temple was open to the public for tours June 3-15, 1985. Those who attended the tours of the 14,125 square foot temple were able to see the exterior and enjoy the beauty of the German influenced design of the temple with its gothic style arches, as well as the interior with its one ordinance room, two sealing rooms, baptistry, Celestial room, and other facilities. More than 90,000 people visited the temple during the open house.

The temple was dedicated for official use by Mormon members on June 29-30, 1985, by Gordon B. Hinckley. When the temple was dedicated, there were 29,9000 members in Germany. Renovations were called for, because when the temple was originally built, some of the best materials were not available, and the Church was not allowed to put a statue of the angel Moroni on the spire. The renovations of the temple almost doubled the square footage and added twelve oxen to support the baptismal font, a waiting room for those not able to enter the temple, a matron and bride’s room, as well as an office for the temple president. On December 20, 2001, an angel Moroni statue was placed on top of the temple. A second open house was held August 17-31 2001. After renovations, Gordon B. Hinckley rededicated the Freiberg temple on September 7, 2002. The renovations were also needed because the temple, which before could only be used by Church members in the German Democratic Republic, is now open for use by members in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.

Physical Address:
HAINICHENER STRASSE 64
09599 FREIBERG
GERMANY
Germany

Mailing address:
c/o Europe Area Administration Office
POUCH
Germany
Phone:   (49) 3731-35960

Other Links:

Temple: Information from Answers.com
Mormon Temple Ordinances – ReligionFacts.com

Search for Mormon Temples at LDSsearch.com

Mormon Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are special buildings dedicated to the Lord. Worthy church members may go to the Mormon temple to receive sacred ordinances and make covenants with God. Like baptism, these ordinances and covenants are necessary for the salvation of man. They must be performed in the temples of the Lord.
The Mormon temple is a house of learning. It is a place where all can gain a better understanding of the purpose of life and the relationship we all share with God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
All the Mormon temple ordinances are performed by the power of the priesthood. Through this power, ordinances performed on earth are sealed, or bound, in heaven.1 Only in the temple can a family be sealed together eternally. Marriage in the temple joins a man and woman as husband and wife eternally, if they honor their covenants.
God wants all His children to return and live with Him. For those who died without hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He has provided a way through which all can either accept or reject the ordinances that have and will be done for them in the Mormon temple. All are taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ whether in this life or the next; all will have the opportunity!
The first Mormon missionary in Sweden was John E. Forsgren from Gavle, who had emigrated to the United States and joined the Mormon Church. He returned to Gavle in 1850 and baptized his brother Peter, the first convert in all of Scandinavia, and his sister Ericka. Word reached the government authorities about the Mormon conversion, and John was deported back to the United States. Other Mormon missionaries were sent, and the authorities continued to oppress the new members. One of the reasons that the Church was persecuted in Sweden, besides the fact that it drew people away from the state-supported Lutheran church, was that in the early days many Mormon members emigrated to the United States, specifically to Utah, so that they could enjoy participating in the Mormon temple, being near the prophet of the Church, and living in a society that shared their faith. Consequently, the Church did not grow in Sweden, and mass emigration continued until the 1950’s. When the Switzerland Temple was built, members were encouraged by the Church leaders to stay and build up the Mormon Church in their home countries.
In 1910 the proposal to ban Mormon missionaries was brought before the ‘riksdag’ and King Gustaf V. The proposal was defeated, and Mormon missionaries were permitted to preach the Gospel.
The announcement of the Stockholm Sweden Temple in 1981 received virtually no opposition. The city of Vasterhaninge was chosen by Mormon Church leaders in which to build the Mormon Temple. City officials welcomed the temple project, and later the city showed further support of the Mormon Temple by changing the name of the street on which the temple is located to Temple Drive. 2
The Mormon temple sits on a six-acre lot with its six spires rising above the pines in the nearby forest and where a cobblestone path leads to its doors.
On July 2, 1985, President Gordon B. Hinckley, Mormon Prophet, dedicated the Stockholm Sweden Temple. The temple serves members of the Mormon Church from the countries of Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Mailing address:
Tempelvägen 5
SE-137 41 Västerhaninge
SWEDEN
Phone:   (46) 8-500-655-00

1 Holy Bible, Matthew 16:19