Jedi Temple



The Jedi Temple was the center of the Jedi Order from the conclusion of the Great Sith War to the Great Jedi Purge and during that time was home to its major training, bureaucratic and dormitory facilities.

Layout
The building was a massive structure that stood one kilometer high above the buildings of Galactic City, Coruscant, around the Sacred Spire, in an area where the Temple was largely unobstructed to sight. A long, broad promenade, the Processional Way, led the way from the crowded surroundings to the Jedi Temple. From the outside, the Jedi Temple appeared as a high-raised ziggurat building in a stepped design, with five spires built on top, one taller spire surrounded by four smaller ones. These spires symbolized a Jedi's climb to enlightenment.

Spires


The tallest, central spire was known as the Temple Spire, and was traditionally the most important, since it held the ancient texts of the Founding Jedi, and was also a sacred place for contemplation. The Temple Spire contained the Hall of Knighthood below the top, meditation chambers farther below, large memorial statues of the most revered Jedi suspended in the tower by repulsorlift pads, then the peak of the original sacred spire around which the first Temple was constructed, then a meditation balcony surrounding the peak, below that a lower balcony presented a series of holo-depictions of the history of the Jedi. The smallest younglings were brought here for their education. Ancient meditation chambers and access points to the original cave chapels were located at the bottom of the spire.

The first of the four smaller spires was home to the Jedi High Council. This was where the twelve members of the High Council sit and debate the various facets of the Republic. This was the next most important tower after the Temple Spire, since the High Council held decision-making powers over the whole Jedi Order, and, thus, quite a bit of influence in the Galactic Republic.

The next tower was used by the Council of First Knowledge. This council took care of matters requiring the wisdom of past Jedi Masters or Council members, and gave advice to the High Council, or most any Jedi who requests it.

The third spire was the Council of Reconciliation Tower, which sought to find peaceful settlements to political disputes across the Galactic Republic.

The fourth spire was the Reassignment Council Tower, which handled the organization of work for young Jedi who had not been chosen by Jedi Masters to be Apprentices.

Each of these five spires carried high-gain communication transmitters, used to contact field Jedi or other offworlders as required by any of the four Councils. This was the reason for the Temple's position high above any other buildings, where there was little or no interference to the antennas.

Internal features


The Temple itself was the home to the Jedi, where they lived for the first years of their apprenticeship. During their stay, they learned the ways of The Force and trained in the traditions of the Jedi Order, often using the centrally located Jedi Archives.

The Temple also provided independent transport to Jedi who required it. A relatively recent addition to the Temple in the last decades of the Republic, the Jedi Temple Hangars house Delta-7 Aethersprite Interceptors, capable of transporting Jedi anywhere in the galaxy. During the Clone Wars, the Temple Hangars also contained Republic Gunships and Jedi Interceptors. Ships were also housed in the Main Temple Garage.

Located near the southern tower of the Temple were the gardens used to grow herbs and vegetables for the Temple's kitchens. Yoland Fee oversaw these gardens.



The rest of the inner Temple was filled with dormitories, meditation and training areas. The most influential and respected masters had their own private offices and quarters. There were many different facilities, including classrooms for Jedi Masters to train large groups of Younglings, and sparring rooms for Jedi to develop their skills with the lightsaber, as well as numerous gardens, fountains, and quiet alcoves and chambers to provide a meditative space. One of the most spectacular gardens was the Room of a Thousand Fountains, which featured a huge greenhouse, flowing waters and cascades. There was also an expansive menagarie beneath the Temple that was used to house hundreds of fauna, including Yoda's kybuck. The outer interior wall around the base of the Jedi Temple was decorated by an arcade of stained-glass known as the Arcade of the Hyperspace Wars.

Other known features included the Jedi Medical Corps Infirmary, Sith containment cells, rotunda chapels, a holographic training rooms, Jedi Agricultural Corps Research Labs, communication centers temporary housing, a banquet hall, maintenance rooms, lightsaber crafting areas, and the Chamber of Conclave. During the Clone Wars the temple also housed military-style briefing chambers and war rooms, to fulfill the Jedi's needs as the generals of the Army of the Republic.

The area around the Temple came to be known as the Temple Precinct, which grew to offer docking space for larger spaceships, and contained other buildings built after the construction of the Temple.

The Old Republic


By the time of the Great Jedi Purge, the Jedi Temple of Coruscant was an ancient structure, over four thousand years old. It replaced an earlier temple that stood on Ossus.

The Coruscant temple's origins date back to 5,000 BBY when, at the conclusion of the Great Hyperspace War, the Galactic Republic granted the Jedi land on Coruscant over a sacred mountain which contained a Force nexus. The Republic hoped that the Jedi would build a fortress, like those on Ossus, Falang Minor and Haashimut, but the order only built a few meditative chambers and training facilities, believing itself to be above the tenets of traditional warfare.

In 4,019 BBY, four Jedi Masters (two Warrior Masters and two Sage Masters) established the ziggurat of the Jedi Temple over the Force nexus on Coruscant.

During the Old Sith Wars, the modern temple would begin to take shape, as the Jedi became more and more tightly linked to the Republic they protected.

Following the devastation of Ossus, the Jedi Council took up residence in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, to which many Jedi relics from Ossus were taken. The Temple was greatly expanded, including the building of the original Jedi Council Chamber.

The full, twelve member Jedi Council met in the Coruscant temple as early as the Mandalorian Wars, but for centuries they would still hold the occasional quorum elsewhere.

After the failed Jedi Conclave of Katarr, the Temple was abandoned as the remaining Jedi Knights went into hiding. It is likely to have become occupied again after the defeat of Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion.

Over the next three millennia, the Temple was repeatedly expanded, with major expansions occurring in 3,519 BBY, 2,519 BBY (when the Jedi Archives were built), 2,019 BBY, and 1,000 BBY (when the Temple spires were built).

After the end of the New Sith Wars, the Republic Dark Age and the following Ruusan Reformation, the Jedi concentrated their operations in the Coruscant temple, closing most of their remaining offworld training academies.

The fall of the Jedi Temple


In 19 BBY, the Jedi discovered that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Four Jedi Masters, Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto, and Saesee Tiin went to arrest the Chancellor. The Temple was guarded by Shaak Ti and Gatemaster Jurokk. The four Jedi Masters were killed, however, and the Jedi Temple was summarily invaded by members the 501st Legion, under the orders of Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine.

Led by Darth Vader, the troopers of the 501st proceeded to slaughter every Jedi resident of the Temple, signaling the start of the Great Jedi Purge. Many famous Jedi died while defending the Temple, including the great librarian Jocasta Nu, and the lightsaber instructor Cin Drallig.

The Empire used the Temple as a trap, having the structure broadcast a false distress signal to surviving Jedi telling them to return to the temple, as the Clone Wars were over. Luckily for the remaining Jedi, however, the two most prominent surviving Jedi, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, returned to the Temple and deactivated the signal, and as a result, the other surviving Jedi managed to survive the immediate demise.

The Temple was once again infiltrated by ex-Jedi, Ferus Olin, and non-Jedi, Trever Flume. After entering through a hole in one of the Temple's spires, they noticed just how much damage had been done. Walls leveled, fountains silenced, shattered gardens. They managed to evade notice while there until they were driven all the way around to Yoda's old office where they found its new occupant, Malorum. They then managed to escape the Temple through the window. Later, they returned via a new maintence hatch and wound up in the sub-basements and found several lightsabers. While attempting to leave, they walked through a room which they discovered to have been a nursery; the walls of which still carried blood stains from the execution of Order 66.



In the subsequent years, the Temple, and perhaps some of its surrounding structures, were occupied by Palpatine, and survived at least until the destruction of the second Death Star, 23 years later (4 ABY). Ironically, the Death Star itself was constructed with a single throne room tower for Palpatine on the station's north pole, symbolizing the triumph of the Sith over the Jedi. While the Jedi had four supporting towers, the Emperor had one single strong tower standing on its own.

It was believed that the Temple itself was caught in the devastation wrought by the escape of the Lusankya, else it was destroyed during the Galactic Civil War. It's also been speculated that it may have been razed by the cloned Emperor's retaking of Coruscant. Prior to the Yuuzhan Vong War, Luke Skywalker located the ruins of the Temple, and constructed a Jedi Headquarters building atop its foundations. This structure was destroyed during the Fall of Coruscant, revealing the ancient foundations of the Jedi Temple.

Legacy


During the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker and Tahiri Veila journeyed to a "Vong-formed" Coruscant after receiving a dark vision. They visited what was left of the once mighty Jedi Temple while doing battle ironically with the deranged Dark Jedi, Lord Nyax. Nyax drew upon the latent energy of the Force that surrounded the site of the Temple like a wellspring of sheer power. Nyax's death atop the ruins permeated this Force energy with darkness, so that when Jacen Solo and Vergere later visited the site, they could sense only the dark side.

After the Yuuzhan Vong war, the Galactic Alliance Reconstruction Authority built a new Temple on Coruscant for Master Skywalker's New Jedi Order. Many on the Masters' Council feared this was a sign that the Jedi were once more becoming tools of the government.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Jedi Apprentice series
 * Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Last Stand on Ord Mantell
 * Jedi Council: Acts of War
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Rogue Planet
 * Jedi Quest series
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
 * Jedi Trial
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * The Last of the Jedi: Dark Warning
 * The Last of the Jedi: Underworld
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * Star Wars Empire: Betrayal
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Traitor