Temple Square Reviews (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Temple Square

Overland Park, Kansas

September 18, 2000

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Best of IgoUgo Before you even enter the city, you'll see the six rising temple towers shielding Salt Lake City. Temple Square is located right in the center of the city. Buildings included in the square are the Salt Lake City Temple, the Tabernacle, an assembly ...Read more

From journal Sanctimonious Salt Lake City

Temple and other buildings

by catsholiday

ashbourne, United Kingdom

June 19, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo CHURCH OFFICE BUILDING:We didn’t really have any interest in seeing in this modern office building but we were advised by our guide at the Conference Center that we could get something to eat at the cafeteria. Actually what we wanted was a coffee ...Read more CHURCH OFFICE BUILDING:
We didn’t really have any interest in seeing in this modern office building but we were advised by our guide at the Conference Center that we could get something to eat at the cafeteria. Actually what we wanted was a coffee but hadn’t realised that this not possible anywhere in temple Square as coffee and tea are considered drugs in the Mormon religion. Anyway we walked all through this huge building down to the cafeteria but it looked really busy so we decided to try elsewhere. It was like any other modern office building but airy, light and once again so clean and shiny.Apparently you get a good view from the 26th floor observation deck but we were hungry and tired and wanted sustenance so we moved on.

JOSEPH SMITH MEMORIAL BUILDING:
This is rather a grand building and was formerly the hotel Utah. It is named in honour of the founder of the religion and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 and it was one of the more attractive buildings on the Square in my humble opinion. It is largely an administrative centre now but does have three restaurants one on the ground floor called ‘Nauvoo’ which is where we decided to sit and have something to eat. The food was not thrilling, rather canteen style buffet, sandwiches, salads and a few hot dishes but not bad value. We had root beer as coffee was not an option. Despite the fact it was called the Nauvoo café!

Having eaten we explored the building a little. The fact that it was a former hotel was evident as the ground floor lobby was very ornate with a huge chandelier and a 9ft staue of Joseph Smith as a centre piece.
There are two further restaurants in the building both on the 10th floor but they gave the impression that they might be a bit smarter and more expensive than we wanted for lunch. In this building you can get assistance to research your family history but having failed so miserably in the South Visitor Center we thought we wouldn’t waste any further time.

The Legacy Theatre is also in this building which shows free church-produced movies, including Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. We decided we would give this a miss and explore the rest of Temple Square.

THE TEMPLE:
As it had stopped raining we walked back through the gardens passed two statues. One showed Joseph and Oliver Cowdrey having the Aaronic priesthood conferred on them by John the Baptist. If you would like to read further information about this then I refer you to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaronic_priesthood

Another statue depicted Peter, James, and John in the act of conferring the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and once again I pass you on to wikipepia for the full explanation as I am at a loss as to how this took place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchizedek_priesthood

Venturing round passed the front of the Temple we came across another wedding. The bride was climbing onto a stone ledge y a door to ose. The previous bride and groom had been posing at the top of the garden by the Church Office Building with the Temple in the background. We were informed by one of the volunteer staff that they can have up to 80 weddings a day in the summer in the Temple. We took some photos of the Temple with the cherry blossom trees before moving on to the Lion House and the Beehive House.

This square has so many fascinating buildings and some we just didn't get around to seeing as we were just so tired from walking around all day.
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From journal Visiting Salt lake City in Utah

The Assembly Hall

by catsholiday

ashbourne, United Kingdom

June 19, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo THE ASSEMBLY HALL:This building is one of the older buildings in the Square and in my view also one of the most attractive in the Square. It looks a bit like a traditional English Church but with 24 extra spires all around the roof line. It also has ...Read more THE ASSEMBLY HALL:
This building is one of the older buildings in the Square and in my view also one of the most attractive in the Square. It looks a bit like a traditional English Church but with 24 extra spires all around the roof line. It also has lovely stained glass windows like a traditional church too. This rather attractive building was constructed between 1877 and 1882 so it was begun before the Temple was finished according to my calculations soothe pioneers didn’t waste any time with their constructions. Although this building was constructed using the same stone as The Temple is looks quite different as this building has stones more roughly carved while the temple has very straight smooth lines. In my personal opinion this one is the more attractive externally.

This Assembly hall was constructed on the site of the original Tabernacle building which was a fairly basic building and not considered good enough for performances. The old tabernacle building was built in 1852 and seated 2500 it was razed to the ground in 1877 the same year as this new Assembly Building was begun.

Inside you can attend free concerts on some weekends and indeed when we visited their was a pianist and a cello player practising so it was very restful to sit in the seats listening to music whilst looking around the inside of the building at the decorations and the huge 3,489 pipe organ which was installed in the 1980s. At this time the acoustics in the building were also enhanced by installing hundreds of small speakers. I thought it was quite interesting that the decorations above the doors were carved ‘stars of David’ which I normally associate with the Jewish religion, I didn’t ask any of the young guides so I am still in the dark about the history of this in the Mormon faith.

As we came out of this comfortable and dry free concert we were greeted by more rain but luckily a couple of ‘sister missionaries’ caught us as we leaving and one of them lent us her large brolly. She insisted on us borrowing it and told us just to leave it at any of the desks in Temple square which was very sweet of her. After a bit of a chat about where we were from and where they were from they both went off sharing one brolly while we moved on to the Tabernacle just across the garden from the assembly Hall.

This was a lovely old building and being able to hear the people practising their music was very special.
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From journal Visiting Salt lake City in Utah

A Peek inside the Mormon temple

by catsholiday

ashbourne, United Kingdom

June 19, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo A TOURIST ATTRACTION:According to the tourist bumff that is handed out Temple Square is the No 1 tourist attraction in Utah. Some may dispute this as there are some stunning places of natural beauty in Utah such as the Arches National Park but I ...Read more A TOURIST ATTRACTION:
According to the tourist bumff that is handed out Temple Square is the No 1 tourist attraction in Utah. Some may dispute this as there are some stunning places of natural beauty in Utah such as the Arches National Park but I would agree that in Salt Lake City it is the attraction. It was the reason I wanted to visit Salt Lake City as I had read so much about the history of the Mormons and their unique beliefs that I was intrigued to actually see the place where it all began in earnest.

Everything in Temple Square is FREE to enter. Some buildings require that you have a guide while others you can wander around as you like. All around the square you see pairs of usually young very attractive well turned out girls who approach and offer to guide you or they just chat to you in a very friendly way before offering to answer any questions or if you would like a visit from someone when ypu get back home.

SOUTH VISITOR’S CENTER:
We were dropped by our taxi by the South Visitor’s Center which is a large modern building which is open seven days a week from 9am to 9pm and is entirely staffed by volunteers. The building is squeaky clean, very open and airy. The ‘restrooms’ were also squeaky clean and the no touch variety of toilet flush, soap, taps and driers!

The first displays you come to are about the family and how important the family as a unit is to the Mormon religion. There were a number of TV screen with children being interviewed about their beliefs and while they were all remarkably articulate which was impressive i couldn’t help but be a bit disturbed by what they were saying .

The Mormon Church has one of the most comprehensive family history resources in the world and there were a few computers that you could use to look up your own family history. Either we were being thick or the records didn’t cover UK on the searches we did but we failed to even find any record of ourselves and we knew all the details we needed to look that up! There was also a very interesting family tree display which had important Mormon family links but this appeared to include Winston Churchill which we found unlikely even though I know his mother was American I couldn’t see the links working downwards.

Moving on we came to a large model showing the inside of The Temple. Only people of the Mormon faith are allowed inside The Temple but if the model is anything to judge by the interior is nothing short of magnificent. The furnishings and decor are luxurious and ornate in creams and whites and golds.

Alongside the model of The Temple are two interactive screen displays which you can select a room from and then you get a picture, map of where it is in The Temple with a description of the furnishings and the use of the room. Now considering this was built in 1847 it is a fabulous construction and nothing was spared to make it a true place of wonder. It seemed amazing to me that these pioneers has walked dragging wagons for months to arrive here then managed to build something as huge and imposing as this within years of arriving in the middle of nowhere with very few possessions. Whatever you think of their beliefs you have to admire their resilience and talent.

The rest of the visitor’s centre is devoted to displays of the pioneers arriving, how The Temple was constructed one large rock at a time being brought by bullock cart to the site from the quarry then cut with pretty basic tools. The Temple is not a crude rough hewn building, it is a very solid granite construction, not especially beautiful from outside but imposing and VERY large, it is certainly going to be there a long time.

Other displays in this area show Brigham Young’s vision and then the architect’s designs, photos of The Temple in progress which is something else I found quite interesting that someone had had the foresight to bring a camera all that way in a hand or bullock cart.

Displays of furniture and how this was made and also the sorts of tools they had to work with. They must have had some very talented people with them as hard work alone would not have created such a quality building. I was very impressed. I am not sure if I had walked thousands of miles dragging my worldy possessions for months on end that I would have been keen to spend my first months and years building a Temple, my first thoughts would have been for my own shelter which they also had to build in between working on The Temple.

A welcoming and interesting building to visit in temple Square.
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From journal Visiting Salt lake City in Utah

Beautiful Gardens

by catsholiday

ashbourne, United Kingdom

June 14, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo We spent a rather wet day exploring Temple Square when we started our visit to the USA in May this year.The first thing that struck me was not the huge grey stone built temple but rather the beautiful gardens that were all around the Square.The ...Read more

From journal Visiting Salt lake City in Utah

Salt Lake Temple

by Chuckk

San Jose, California

September 1, 2001

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The 10 acre refuge with is a magnificently landscaped ground surrounding the Salt Lake Temple. Experienced representatives will take you on a complimentary tour of Temple Square, including the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall and the beautiful flower ...Read more

From journal Utah ..Bonneville Salt Flats

Temple Square

by AnaMH

South Florida, Florida

November 19, 2000

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Best of IgoUgo Back in the time that SLC was pioneered (7-24-1847), Temple Square was the center of the city. This is the reason all city addresses originate at the temple gates. The construction of the Mormon Temple was begun in 1853 and completed in 1892. The ...Read more

From journal Salt Lake City Sights

Amazing building

by catsholiday

ashbourne, United Kingdom

June 19, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo THE CONFERENCE CENTER:This enormous rather square building is the newest on the block and as we entered we were offered a guided tour which we accepted. I don’t think you had to be guided but I’m glad we opted for the guide as she was lovely and I ...Read more

From journal Visiting Salt lake City in Utah

Temple Square

by bananasaregreen

Draper, Utah

June 30, 2006

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The main building on Temple square is of course the temple. It is a marvelous beautiful building. There are two visitor centers which are fun, educational, and interactive. There is also an assembly hall and the tabernacle. The tabernacle is home to ...Read more

From journal Salt Lake City and Suburbs

Spring Flowers

by azsunluvr

Mesa, Arizona

June 24, 2003

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Best of IgoUgo Thousands of tulips in all varieties and colors are a gift to spring visitors to Salt Lake City’s Temple Square. The gardens have been recognized with prestigious awards from gardening organizations, but are designed to display the beauty and ...Read more

From journal Springtime in Temple Square

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Temple and other buildings

The Assembly Hall

A Peek inside the Mormon temple

Beautiful Gardens

Salt Lake Temple

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Amazing building

Temple Square

Spring Flowers