Temple Square Salt Lake City
Temple Square is much more than a religious icon. It’s a collage of fascinating history, singular architecture, and gourmet dining. Temple Square in Salt Lake City is Utah’s most popular tourist destination.
Historic Temple Square and the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons) are located in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City.
Come enjoy beautiful gardens, majestic architecture, and the peace and reverence of this iconic space of worship.
Part of its appeal lies in its accessibility: three city blocks in downtown Salt Lake City contain nearly 20 attractions related to Mormon pioneer history and genealogy, including the Salt Lake Temple, the Tabernacle, and the Family History Library. This means that visitors can see all or most of these attractions in a relatively short period of time.
The temple represented both the spiritual and physical center in the lives of the pioneers. Laying out the land for Salt Lake City began only a few days after the Saints identified the location for permanent settlement.
The work of surveying the city blocks began at the southeast corner of Temple Block.
Just four days after arriving in the Salt Lake valley following an arduous trek across the Great Plains, early church pioneers designated the location where they would build their church’s first temple in this valley.
Using the Temple Block as the primary reference point for the city, Brigham Young labeled the streets according to their distance and direction from the Temple Block. As a result, locations in the city are in reference to the Temple Block. Today, the temple remains the central reference point in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake Temple
This building is a worldwide icon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the heart of Temple Square.
The massive granite edifice was constructed in a neo-gothic style over the course of an astounding 40-year period between 1853 and 1893. The pioneers who settled the valley sacrificed both time and material goods to the building of the temple, which stands as a testament to their faith and devotion.
Please be aware that only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are permitted to enter the temple, but all visitors are welcome to peruse the grounds and admire the stunning workmanship of the building and the serene beauty of its immediate surroundings.
Although the Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to complete once ground was broken, the area surrounding the temple became the center of the city, due to activity at the tabernacle and ongoing construction on the temple. Salt Lake’s gridded street system places Temple Square as its origin; each address is an indication of how many blocks north, south, east or west an that address lies from Temple Square.
In the decades since Brigham Young’s statement, other sacred buildings have been built near the temple. The campus has expanded to become the world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Salt Lake Tabernacle
Home of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Tabernacle, located just north of the Assembly Hall, is an architectural and acoustic wonder.
The famous organ at the front of the Tabernacle contains 11,623 pipes, making it one of the largest and richest-sounding organs in the world, and the building was constructed so that even the drop of a pin at the front of the building can be heard throughout the building.
The Tabernacle is usually open daily for tours. In addition, the public is welcome to attend choir rehearsals on Thursday evenings and the Music and the Spoken Word broadcasts on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am.