Architecture
The Washington D.C. Temple, designed by architect Keith W. Wilcox, was built with a modern six-spire design based on the design of the Salt Lake Temple, with the three towers to the east representing the Melchizedek Priesthood leadership, and the three towers to the west representing the Aaronic Priesthood leadership. The temple was designed to be similar in style and form to the Salt Lake Temple so that it would be easily recognized as a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The central eastern tower reaches a height of 288 feet (88 m), the tallest of any LDS temple. The temple has a total floor area of 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2), making it the third largest LDS temple. It holds six ordinance rooms and fourteen sealing rooms. The Washington D.C. Temple's angel Moroni statue, which sits atop the tallest tower, is 18 feet (5.5 m) tall and weighs 2 tons. The outer walls are covered in white Alabama marble and the spires are coated in 24-carat gold. There are two large stained glass windows on the eastern and western-most spires. Although there appear to be no other windows, the marble was shaved to 0.625 inches (1.59 cm) thick over window openings, thin enough to be translucent.
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