We spent four days in Salt Lake City and didn’t really get a chance to do any sightseeing until the last day. We didn’t take the 45-minute tour of Temple Square because the website told us that we had to book a day in advance. Not true, but even when given the opportunity to join one we declined. No tour enters the sacred Temple and we got plenty of information about each building – the two visitor centers, the Tabernaccle, the Temple and the Assembly Hall – from the dozens of volunteers who staffed each one. We saw everything we wanted to see. The highlight was the Tabernacle, home of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It looks like a domed gymnasium, which was a surprise to me. An even bigger surprise was that the Tabernacle was built first and existed at the time the building of the Temple got underway in 1850. Who built domed buildings in the 19th century?
Christ among the stars
The Temple
The Tabernacle
Handcart statue
Inside the Tabernacle
Jett, puzzled by the staircase
Details of the Temple model
The Temple from the Tabernacle
Cutaway model of the Temple
Inside Assembly Hall
City Creek Mall
The interiors of both the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall were beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of the interiors of the colonial churches in Boston – the Old South Church and King’s Chapel. The Assembly Hall had a spiral staircase that intrigued both Jett and me. We didn’t ask where it led.
Though entry into the Temple was prohibited, a very detailed cutaway model of the Temple is offered in the South Visitors Center, in front of a window facing the Temple so that you can look at the model and then look at the full-sized building. Very interesting model and a very nice presentation.
I also liked the Handcart Pioneer statue. Having driven some very long hops to get to Salt Lake City, I fully appreciated the effort it took to walk all the way, pulling a heavy handcart. Incredible achievement.
We also used our day in Salt Lake City to check out the City Creek Center mall, a very nice urban mall adjacent to Temple Square.
LDS office building
Temple Square gardens
Assembly Hall