Xel'naga temple

"Behold, there is a temple, not far from here, that lies upon ground most hallowed. Though I have born witness to the passing of countless millennia, the temple which you must assault is older by far. For it was constructed by my creators, the Xel'Naga, and it marks the site where the Xel'Naga first set foot upon Aiur."

- The Overmind gives orders to a Cerebrate

A Xel'Naga Temple is a Xel'Naga artifact, found on various worlds. Some Temples have special functions. They are commonly created over a powerful nexus of cosmic energy. The most renown Temple was created by the Xel'Naga on the world of Shakuras; it was used by the Dark Templar to destroy the Zerg which had infested the world.

Recently a number of Temples have begun unearthing themselves drawing the attention of archaeologists such as Valerian Mengsk and Jake Ramsey.

Temples of Aiur
The first Protoss Temple on the Xel'Naga-engineered world of Aiur was built on the spot where the Xel'Naga first set foot on Aiur.

It was destroyed by the Zerg so the Overmind could manifest itself physically on Aiur.

Ziggurat


The Ziggurat is a Protoss Temple on Aiur discovered by the Terran xenoarchaeologist Dr. Fredrick Thompson.

Temple of Bhekar Rho
The Terran-colonized world of Bhekar Ro is home to another Xel'Naga Temple. It was unearthed due to a powerful windstorm and activated when a Terran approached too closely. The Temple absorbed him.

The Temple was surrounded by Khaydarin Crystals and appeared to be organic. Studies on the Temple were limited due to a battle which erupted among the Terrans, Protoss and Zerg; all three races sent members within the Temple in an attempt to learn its secrets (and prevent the other races from gaining any information from it). The Terrans dropped a nuke on it, but the Temple absorbed the energy and reached its full potential, absorbing the nearby Zerg and Protoss but "discarding" all of its Terran victims (who emerged alive). The top of the Temple was blasted open by an "energy creature" which may have possessed the essences or genetics of both Zerg and Protoss.

The Temple released its excess energy, greatly enhancing crops nearby.

The remaining structure was "pulverized" and all of its secrets were lost. Little data was taken due to the bloody battle that took place around and within it.

Temples of Braken
The Temples of Braken were destroyed during the recent conflicts. It is associated with prophecies which claim that "he who harnesses this world will someday wield great a power, sanctified by the ancient ones". This could be a reference to the Xel'Naga.

Temple of Nemaka
The Temple of Nemaka, a formerly life-bearing world whose air was driven off by a massive meteorite collision, was discovered fifteen years before the events of StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn but was only briefly recorded by bored Marines. At that time, the Temple was "alive" with a green glow. It was surrounded by dozens, possibly hundreds of Khaydarin Crystals.

Fifteen years later the Temple was investigated by Jake Ramsey, an archaeologist hired by Valerian Mengsk. By this time, the Temple was dead, at least on the outside, and something had cracked open the top from the inside (Ramsey believed this was the same type of energy creature seen on Bhekar Ro). Ramsey entered the Temple using one of dozens of oval-shaped holes and eventually used the Golden Mean formula to enter its heart. There he found the near-dead Zamara, a Protoss mystic, who planted her memories (and many others) into his head using the powers of the Temple itself. Ramsey fell ill and the planet was abandoned by the Terrans.

Temple of Shakuras
When the Dark Templar came to Shakuras, they discovered another Xel'Naga Temple, built on a nexus of cosmic energy, and decided to remain. It consisted of a pyramid-shaped structure with a small floating crystalline top, and appeared very different (and larger) than the Temple on Aiur.

Through the use of the Khalis and Uraj crystals, twin reservoirs of Templar and Dark Templar energies, the Temple could be reconfigured into a powerful anti-Zerg weapon.

It was protected by a shield.

History
Shortly after the arrival of the Protoss refugees and Zerg from Aiur, Zerg Cerebrates surrounded the Temple. Dark Templar leader Raszagal demanded their immediate removal.

A Protoss fleet left Shakuras to collect the crystals, and upon their return found the Temple once again surrounded by Zerg. Artanis and Zeratul were able to use the light and dark sides of Protoss psionic energy to activate it, scouring the Zerg from the dark world.

In later missions it was mentioned that the Temple's effects can reach out in space. In the aftermath of the Brood War, the Protoss have begun studying the temple, its technology having formed the basis for many technological advancements.

Trivia
In the older, pre-release version of StarCraft, the Temple was a Protoss structure which created Archons. The building was removed from the tech tree when the method of creating Archons (merging two High Templar) was changed.

Statues of "bugs" can be seen in the Temple (during the ending video of Episode IV). While the Zerg are "bugs", these bugs didn't resemble any known Zerg breeds.