Salt Lake Temple, Latter-day Saint temple on Temple Square, Salt Lake City, United States
The Salt Lake Temple is a house of worship for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Its light grey stone walls rise in tiers with narrow vertical windows and arched openings between flat columns, topped by six spires; the central spire reaches 210 feet to the base of the gold angel Moroni. A tall golden panel marks the right-facing wall.
Construction began in 1853 following a design by Truman O. Angell and took four decades to complete, with granite hauled from Little Cottonwood Canyon using ox-drawn wagons. The building was finished in 1893 and marked a turning point for the Latter-day Saint community in Utah.
The temple's exterior carries symbols visitors can spot: a beehive on doors and doorknobs, a Big Dipper on the west side, and clouds raining down on the east side. The gold angel Moroni atop the central spire lost his trumpet in a 5.7-magnitude earthquake on March 18, 2020.
Access to the interior is restricted to members with valid recommendations, but the surrounding grounds at 50 West North Temple Street are open to all visitors throughout the year. The gardens and reflecting pools around the building are freely accessible and often illuminated with light displays in the evening.
The temple's sandstone foundation was buried and the lot plowed to look like a field during the Utah War, to avoid attention from federal troops. When work resumed, many foundation stones were found cracked and were replaced. The walls are quartz monzonite from Little Cottonwood Canyon, hauled at first by oxen and after 1869 by rail.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,579 contributors worldwide.
