Located in the former Galactic City, on the planet Coruscant, this complex of spires and buildings was the base of operations for the Jedi Knights during the last forty generations of the Old Republic. Construction of the Temple was proposed by the Jedi to the Galactic Senate some time after the Great Hyperspace War, and despite the Senate's desire to recognize the efforts of the Jedi in defeating the Sith, the Temple met with many obstacles. First, the Senate feared that a Jedi stronghold on Coruscant would increase the likelihood of another Sith invasion. Second, the Senate wanted to avoid any direct association of the Jedi Order with the government. The Jedi, however, had no intention of making either mistake, and established a training and meditation center that would serve as a temporary base of operations for the Jedi Council. The site chosen for the Jedi Temple was strong with the Force, and was originally set aside as a holy place by the natives of the planet.

In the aftermath of the Great Sith War, both the Jedi and the Senate agreed that a tighter union of their forces would be required to ensure the safety of the galaxy, and the Jedi Temple was allowed to expand and become the center of the Jedi Order. The central Temple Spire rose a kilometer above the surrounding cityscape, and was surrounded by four individual Council towers. All five towers were supported by the main building, which sunk its roots deep into Coruscant's crust. The ziggurat shape of the main building, coupled with the five spires, was meant to symbolize a Padawan's path to enlightment through the Force. It was also meant to focus the energies of the Force, allowing those within to have a near-continual connection to the mystical energy field.

There were several contemplation stations located on each of the four smaller towers, where a Jedi could go be alone with their thoughts. Each of the four towers faced one of the ordinal directions, and they bristled with antennae and sensors that provided the Jedi with continual information from across the galaxy. The front of the building was accessed by the Processional Way, and was defined by huge pylons that depicted images of the Four Masters who founded the temple. Many Jedi historians wondered at the placement of the Temple on Coruscant, where all native life had been swept from the planet by the millennia-long urbanization, and yet more than a trillion beings lived out their lifes.

During the final days of the Clone Wars, the command was issued by Chancellor Palpatine to execute Order 66. This command was part of his sweeping plan to assume control of the galaxy for the Sith. Few beings realized that Palpatine was actually Darth Sidious, and that Anakin Skywalker had fallen from the ranks of the Jedi and assumed a position as Sidious' apprentice, Darth Vader. One of Vader's first acts of obedience was to escort the 501st Legion to the Jedi Temple, where they slaughtered every Jedi who was in the Temple at the time. Vader himself killed the younglings, and no being was left alive in the attack. The firefights that ensued caused large amounts of damage to the Temple, which began to burn, casting a cloud of smoke over the Coruscant skyline. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda later infiltrated the Jedi Temple reset the signal that called all remaining Jedi home to the Temple, to prevent further deaths.

In the aftermath of the Jedi Purge begun by Emperor Palpatine, the Temple was allowed to remain standing, but was abandoned and left empty. Propaganda spread by the early Imperial government claimed that the Imperial 501st Legion arrived at the Jedi Temple to bring the Jedi to justice, but were forced to open fire when the Jedi in the Temple ignited their lightsabers and attacked them. During the early months of the New Order, it was rumored that former Jedi Knights were being held prisoner in the Temple, but this was proven to be little more than a ruse that was meant to lure unsuspecting Jedi back to Coruscant. The Jedi Temple became an object of fascination for the local Coruscant residents, and the wealthy even thought it a symbol of status if they were allowed into the building.

Over the following decades, much of the Jedi Temple was destroyed, either by war or demolition, and it was eventually was reduced to rubble. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker debated whether or not to build a new Temple, fearing that such a symbol of a centralized power structure may have led to the downfall of the earlier Jedi Order. In the wake of the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, Skywalker agreed to the construction of a Jedi Enclave on Coruscant, as a satellite of the facility that was established on Ossus. This Coruscant-based facility bore no resemblance to its predecessor, being formed from a collection of pyramid-shaped buildings of various sizes. The new Temple also included a chamber that had no doors or windows, and was built to contain a Force nexus that had been discovered on the planet.

Source Abbreviations Listing - IWE1, COD, PJSB, VD3, E3N, SWDB, LJ3, RDV, SWCL, LF1, LJ9, FJ1, FJ2