Order of the Solar Temple

The Order of the Solar Temple (French: ordre du Temple solaire, OTS), founded as the International Chivalric Order of the Solar Tradition (French: ordre international chevaleresque de Tradition solaire, OICTS), or simply The Solar Temple, was an esoteric religious group, often described as a cult, that claimed to be based upon the ideals of the Knights Templar. The OTS was founded by Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro in 1984 in Saconnex d'Arve, Switzerland. It is best known for a series of murders and mass suicides that claimed 77 lives in Switzerland, France, and Canada in 1994, 1995 and 1997, and for the controversies that followed. The group's actions were a major factor in the toughening of the fight against cults in France.