Meridian Idaho Temple

Pic credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

-The Meridian Idaho Temple was announced 2 April 2011 and was dedicated on November 19, 2017 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

-The Meridian Idaho Temple is the fifth temple in Idaho. The Idaho temple’s in order are: Idaho Falls(1945), Boise Idaho Temple(1984), Rexburg Idaho Temple(2008), and the Twin Falls Idaho Temple(2008).

- The Meridian Temple was dedicated on November 19, 2017 by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. To read the temple dedication click here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/details/meridian-idaho-temple/prayer/2017-11-19?lang=eng

- The exterior of the Meridian Idaho Temple resembles to the Cardston Alberta Temple and the Laie Hawaii Temple. Both Alberta and Laie Temples were built over a century before in the 1910’s and 1920’s.

-Meridian Idaho is named for the Boise meridian, one of 35 principal meridians used for surveying in the United States, the temple’s exterior takes on a similar theme with its nod to geometry through lines and shapes.

-One recurring shape is the octagon on the Meridian Idaho Temple. The octagon used from the baptismal font inside to the octagonal cupola cap, with the titanium surfacing changing colors from blue-gray to gold to bronze, depending on the sun. The symbolism of the octagon is rebirth and resurrection.

-Exterior design themes include agriculture and mountains. The temple’s primary color palette is creamy white, gold, turquoise and bronze underscoring the flowers, fields, sky and woods of the surrounding Treasure Valley.

-Looking close you are able to see a floral theme, starting with seed elements at the base, then long stems reaching upward, and rising to blossoming lily-like flowers at the top.

-Other floral designs used throughout the Meridian Temple include the camas flowers and the white syringa, Idaho’s state flower. These flowers can be seen in the stained-glass windows to the carpet carvings in the celestial and sealing rooms.

-The 8.8-mile distance between the current Boise Idaho Temple and the new Meridian Idaho Temple is the shortest temple-to-temple distance outside of Utah.