Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

Coordinates: 18°27′59.64120″N 69°55′1.718399″W / 18.4665670000°N 69.91714399972°W / 18.4665670000; -69.91714399972 The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is the 99th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is also the first temple to be built in the Caribbean and in this Area of the church.

Santo Domingo is the Dominican Republic's capital city. Founded in 1496, it is the oldest European settlement existing in the New World. In 1978 the Dominican Republic was opened to Mormon missionaries. By 1986 membership had grown to eleven thousand and in 1998, LDS Church membership reached sixty thousand. Before the temple was built in the Dominican Republic, members of the church traveled to Peru, Guatemala, or the U.S. state of Florida to attend a temple.

The temple was announced in December 4, 1993. On August 18, 1996, Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve presided over the groundbreaking, marking the beginning of construction. The temple open house, held from 26 August to 9 September 2000, attracted nearly forty thousand people. Over ten thousand members of the church from the Dominican Republic and their neighbors from Haiti, Puerto Rico, and other islands witnessed the dedication of the temple on September 17, 2000 by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is located in the western part of the city. It is built on a rise that has kept it dry when other parts of the city were flooded. The site is adorned with trees and overlooks the Caribbean Sea. It has a total of 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2), four ordinance rooms, and four sealing rooms.