Las Vegas Mormon Temple

Southern Nevada has long been home to a large community of Mormons, but it only recently acquired a temple. The temple is the most important building in the hierarchy of church structures, considered a physical representation of God's presence on earth, open only to church members for ordinances, such as sealing in marriage. Second to the temple is the tabernacle, also a sacred space but used for public worship. The meetinghouse, third in the hierarchy, is also a place of worship but accommodates other functions, including recreational activities, and is generally much smaller and simpler in design than the temple and the tabernacle.

Like Mormon temples around the country, this stunning example enjoys a prominent location in the city, in the foothills of Sunrise Mountain at the east edge of Las Vegas Valley. The walls are precast architectural concrete clad with white marble aggregate panels that contrast with the warm red tones of the rugged hills to the east. Thin vertical windows are set between steel posts, rising to a steeply angled copper roof ending in projecting points. Six gold-capped spires, perhaps a reference to the six spires of the Salt Lake City Temple (1853–1893), rise above the perimeter of the structure. A statue of the Angel Moroni covered with gold leaf tops the easternmost spire.