The Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mormon Temple on Vine Street was officially dedicated on Sunday, nearly eight years after the church announced plans for the temple on October 4, 2008.
Henry B. Eyring, president of the church, marked the dedication with a cornerstone ceremony, which involves placing mortar around the cornerstone of the temple.
With the dedication, the Mormon Temple is now officially closed to non-church members, though the Robert A.M. Stern-designed meeting house across the street is open to the public. For the past month, the church has hosted public tours of the 61,000-square-foot temple. More than 141,000 people took a tour, according to reports.
It’s an impressive Georgian-style structure that is made with granite from Maine, and stone from Egypt and Italy. Inside, there are select details that pay homage to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s history, including a wall mural of the church’s founder Joseph Smith being baptized in the Susquehanna River, and wood carvings of the Pennsylvania state flower, the mountain laurel.
The temple is expected to serve 40,000 church members from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Missed the tours? Here’s a peek inside some of the main rooms in the temple.
- Inside the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mormon Temple [Curbed Philly]
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