We report the results of an experimental study of the temporal response of the artificial opal luminescence excited by UV pulses from a nitrogen laser at room temperature, liquid-nitrogen temperature, and in the intermediate range. While the response time does not exceed 15 ns at room temperature, the afterglow at liquid-nitrogen temperature was detected with a decay time of about 700 ms. We have revealed that the afterglow appears suddenly with just millisecondrange duration at a definite temperature of 130 ± 5 K. The temperature dependence of the afterglow is of importance for the explanation of surprising effects of the stimulated emission in a single nano-sized SiO2 globule and the second harmonic generation in the material at liquid-nitrogen temperature. K e y w o r d s: artificial opal, afterglow, nanocavity lasing.