Apia Samoa Temple

Coordinates: 13°50′18.03839″S 171°47′0.909600″W / 13.8383439972°S 171.783586°W / -13.8383439972; -171.783586

The Apia Samoa Temple (formerly the Samoan Temple) was the 24th constructed and 22nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the first temple built in Samoa and the third to be built in Polynesia. After it was destroyed by fire, a new temple was built and dedicated on the same grounds.

The temple in Apia, capital city of Samoa, was first announced on October 15, 1977. A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication were held on February 19, 1981 with Spencer W. Kimball giving the dedicatory prayer. Both the original temple and the rebuilt temple use a classic modern design with a single spire, on a 2-acre (8,100 m2) temple site. The original temple was 14,560 square feet (1,353 m2), but with the rebuilding the total floor area is now 18,691 square feet (1,736.5 m2). The exterior of the temple is finished with granite. The temple has two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms. The temple was open to the public for tours July 19 through 30, 1983. Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Apia Samoa Temple August 5, 1983 and rededicated the new temple on September 4, 2005. The Apia Samoa temple is one of the more heavily used temples of the Church and serves members from 20 stakes in American Samoa, and the islands of Upolu and Savai'i.