The white Mormon temple on the rue Tepano Jaussen in the Pirae district is one of Papeete's more surprising landmarks: a sharp-spired marble and white-concrete building dedicated in 1983 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple itself is only open to LDS members in good standing, but the immaculate gardens, the reflecting pool, and the visitor centre are open to all and worth a quick stop on a city tour.
There has been a substantial Mormon community in French Polynesia since the missionary years of the 1840s, when more than a third of Tahitians converted before later largely returning to Protestant or Catholic affiliations. The temple is a fifteen-minute walk from the city centre, near the Lycée Paul-Gauguin.