Temple Square

I find there is great confusion when it comes to people understanding the Mormon religion. I generally classify these types into 3 separate categories; the ones who don’t know anything about the church and when asked or given the opportunity to talk about the LDS religion, usually mention they know very little except for what they have heard or seen on TV, from a friend, newspaper, etc. Then there are the ones who think, or claim to be very knowledgeable about the Mormon religion. These are the quote; educated religion specialists who have maybe read a book, or read a magazine article encompassing more than 8 pages of information abridged to sum up the religion. So of course what ever they claim to know, (or think they know) about the religion should be held with the utmost respect and regarded as true and correct… “Snicker”. And then there are the members themselves. Whatever group you identify with, all must admit that the headquarters of the church, is gorgeous.

Have you ever visited temple square in downtown Salt Lake City?

It is a must if you are ever in the area. Utah in and of itself has a lot to offer for tourists. Zion’s national park can take weeks to see, lots of great national parks, spectacular sites, outdoor recreation, etc. I had never been there, until last week. I was blown away with the architecture, the landscape, and the beauty of its natural surroundings. So today, and maybe for a couple of posts, I am going to be posting some of my pictures, keep in mind these were taken with a DSLR camera, also something I may post about latter.

Weddings are quite common. We ran into 2

Here are some shots of the surrounding area and landscape of the Salt Lake Valley...

One of the most famous places in temple square is the Tabernacle.It also happens to be one of the most photographed places on the grounds as well, and is widely recognized for its peculiar design. The Tabernacle was built before acoustic technology existed, not to mention it was built by the settlers by hand, with almost no construction equipment, very little supplies, and money.The Tabernacle was completed in 1847, which is quite remarkable for several reasons.One example for this is Carnegie Hall, a very well known music hall in NY which was built almost 50 years latter, and even then still significantly lacked the same acoustic performance that the tabernacle possesses. One other thing to mention is that Carnegie Hall was heavily funded, and was built when better sound technology existed, along with better construction equipment. Though the famous hall in NYC is better known, it is shamed when brought before the Mormon Tabernacle when it comes to acoustics and design. It is hard to say why this acoustic gem is so underrated; however, it also proves that most things that NY has are over rated. :-0 And yes I did just happen to have a picture of Carnegie Hall in my portfolio, though it is not a very good one.

The Tabernacles simplistic design has baffled many... Every hour a church representative goes to the front of the hall, and with out any use of sound amplification, demonstrates the halls acoustic wonders. The representative drops pins, and tears paper, which can be heard very clearly on the opposite side of the hall.

One last thing to mention is the pipe organ. It is the largest Organ in the world, consisting of over 1100 pipes, that is almost 400 more than the organ that resides in the new conference center, I will do a separate post for that building.

Other treasures that can be found within the grounds of Temple Square are statues.

The temple grounds are surrounded with beautiful floral and arbor arrangement, even during the winter time a balance of nature can be found anywhere one looks.Even the trees without the leaves have a natural beauty to them,Fountains are found trough out the grounds, and make for a nice place to sit and reflect.

As you can see, there are many great places to stop and think. Anna can be seen below, reflecting on why the flowers behind her have not bloomed yet.Speaking of reflection, I forgot to mention that there are 2 visitor centers found on the grounds, unfortunately I only got one shot of these 2 structures, and I am in the shot... Well that is it for now, next will be the Church's confrence center and the JS Building.