The Jedi Temple was the main headquarters of the Jedi Order. Built after the destruction of the Great Jedi Pyramid at the end of the Great Territorial War, it was located in one of the central districts of Coruscant a few kilometers away from the Galactic Senate.
History[]
Construction[]
During the Final Battle of Coruscant, which was also the final battle of the Great Territorial War, the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order launched a campaign to retake Coruscant from the Third Sith Empire. During the battle, a Sith Lord called Darth Apocalus, the leader of a resistance against Empress Viea, launched a coup d'état against the empress's forces by firing on her fleet. During the battle, Apocalus ordered his forces to fire upon the Great Jedi Pyramid, the main headquarters of the Jedi Order. After a few minutes of orbital bombardment, the ancient monastery was destroyed. Quickly thereafter, Apocalus’ vessels were overpowered by the loyalist and Republic vessels and were destroyed, taking the Dark Lord with them. Even so, the loss of the pyramid was a major blow to the Jedi Order, as it had been one of the main headquarters ever since the foundation of the order thousands of years earlier.
In the end, the Sith were defeated and Coruscant was returned to the Republic. After the Sith retreated and the Republican government was set back up, the Jedi relocated to Dantooine where they expanded their Jedi enclave there to be able to support hundreds of Jedi at one time. For decades, a new temple on Coruscant was not built, though there was always talks of it. It was not until after the Great Rim Lines War that the Jedi realized it was crucial to have a temple on Coruscant, so they designed and began to build a new Jedi Temple to serve as the headquarters of the Jedi Order. The project was nearly derailed when the United Mobus Resistance attacked Coruscant at the very beginning of the United Pirate Crusades, but by the time of the Great Sovereign Crusades the temple was fully functional and served as the main base of operations for the Jedi Council.
Crusades[]
During the early days of the Great Sovereign Crusades, the Jedi Temple came under attack by the forces of the Dark Lord Darth Dire and King Bree Mibu of Kalee. During the attack, the Sith also spread a deadly toxin into the atmosphere, much like the toxins that that had been fatally released on Alderaan, Corellia and Mon Calamari weeks earlier. During the battle with the Jedi, Darth Mortis set explosives at the base of the Jedi High Council spire. Shortly thereafter, he detonated it and the spire telescoped in on itself. This and the overwhelming number of Sith and Kaleesh forces caused the Jedi to retreat and split their forces up across the galaxy, though mostly on Hoth, Baltimn and Ossus. This retreat only lasted for a short time, as the Sith decided not to try to claim Coruscant, thereby forcing them to give up the Jedi Temple. When the Jedi returned, they rebuilt the damaged sections to just as they were before the attack.
Two years later, the Holy Crusades of the Bendu Order under the leadership of Ussej Padric Bac III were coming to a close. A group of Republic technicians altered two Republic shuttlecrafts so they could be controlled by remote control. High-yield explosives were placed into the cargo holds as well. Kilometers away from the Jedi Temple, a technician remotely piloted the shuttles into the traffic lanes, but without warning the shuttles veered out of the traffic and were flown into two of the spires of the temple. Though the spires itself remained intact, the sides eventually collapsed to the ground, leaving the interior exposed and dozens of Jedi dead. The next morning, the commanders of the Republic fleets began moving their vessels into the atmosphere and towards the Jedi Temple. Ussej contacted the Jedi Council and forced them into abandoning the Jedi Temple and leaving Coruscant. To save the lives of the Jedi inside the temple, the Jedi Council agreed. Shortly thereafter, the Sith exploited the exile of the Jedi and took control of Coruscant for two years before the Republic retook it from them. When the planet was secure, the Jedi returned to and repaired the Jedi Temple once again.
Design[]
Along with the Galactic Senate, the Jedi Temple was one of the most recognizable landmarks on the surface of Coruscant. Standing over a kilometer from the surface, it had a unique architectural style and was constructed around an ancient Force nexus located in a natural mountain to house the members of the legendary Jedi Order. When it was built after the end of the Great Rim Lines War, the Jedi knew that they would need to make it as reassuring to the people as the Great Jedi Pyramid had been before it was destroyed by the Third Sith Empire. Because they wanted the citizens of the galaxy and their own members to feel comfortable with it, the Jedi Temple was built as a fortress yet with the appearance as a symbol of peace and justice. The exterior was a titanic ziggurat that sat upon a large empty plain, which was crowned by four spires. In the center of the four spires was one large, central spire that housed the Jedi High Council.[1]
The spires on the temple symbolized the climb a Jedi would have to take to reach enlightenment. Each of the four smaller spires stood upon a different quarter of the Jedi Temple and each quarter represented a different purpose. The First Knowledge quarter was important in regards to the training of younglings, whereas the High Council quarter was an area in which many conference areas were built. The area around the Reassignment Tower was dedicated to the public entrance, while the Reconciliation quarter had many gardens and garages. Each were used by many different Jedi, and each served their purposes well for thousands of years.[1]
Appearances[]
- Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac III
- Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One (First appearance)