 THINGS TO DO ON TEMPLE SQUARE TOURS Personal Tours:When you come to Temple Square you can have a personal tour with one or two sister missionaries as your guides. If you do not speak english a sister missionary that seaks your language will be able to accomodate you if possible. There are currently around 42 languages spoken on Temple Square. Other Tours: There are many tours you can choose from. Historic Temple Square Tour,Conference Center Tour, Behive House Tour, Tour on the top of Curch Office Building, Garden Tour, Museum of Church History and Art, Family History Center Tour, Humanitarian Center Tour, Wellfare Square Tour. For more information, please visit: Temple Square Hospitality Airport to Temple Sqaure Tours: if you have a lay over that is longer than 2 hours you can takea shuttle directly to Temple Square and enjoy your time while waiting for your flight. Custom Tours: You can plan an activity and schedule a custom tour just for your group. Whether you plan Boy/Girl Scouts, Bus tours, Church groups, Convention groups, Family history/genealogy societies, Family reunions, International groups, Military reunions, School groups, Senior citizens,Youth groups or others you can contact Temple Square Guest Services Desk and schedule a tour that will meet the needs of your event. For Temple Square Services Guest Services Desk please call 801-240-1000. SALT LAKE TEMPLE The Salt Lake Temple was completed in 1893 after 40 years of building. It is the pivotal building on Temple Square that is open only to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You can walk on Temple grounds and enjoy watching wedding parties taking pictures of family and friends. The Temples are open to public during an open house period (usually a couple days) right before they are dedicated. ASSEMBLY HALL On the southwest corner of Temple Square is the Assembly Hall, it was built by pioneers in 1877 for a place to worship on Sundays.Today it is not used for those purposes anymore. Instead the Temple Square Concert Series presents complimentary hour-long concerts featuring local and international artists every Friday and Saturday evening. During the Christmas season, concerts are held Tuesday through Saturday. Music on Temple Square makes this place even more peaceful and beautiful. SEAGULL MONUMENT The Seagull Monument was built to remember the miracle that happened when the crops that pioneers planted were being devoured by crickets and seagulls came to thier rescue and devoured the crickets. TABERNACLE The Tabernacle is one of the oldest buildings in Salt Lake City. It is a home of Mormon Tabernacle Choir. For years it was used for the semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints until the Conference Center was built. You can experience the Tabernacle acoustics everyday during the pin drop demonstration. Standing at the back of the Tabernacle, 170 feet, you can hear a pin drop or the tearing of paper that a sister missionary demonstrates for the visitors. You can also enjoy an Organ Recital. Tabernacle organists and specially invited guest organists perform every day at Temple Square. The recitals begin at 12:05 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2:05 p.m. on Sundays. The Tabernacle organ is one of the world's largest and most distinctive instruments. It is over 135 years old and it has 11,623 pipes organized into 147 voices (tone colors) and 206 ranks (rows of pipes). Though the organ has been rebuilt and enlarged several times, you can still see the original casework and some of pipes today. NORTH VISITOR CENTER The North Visitor Center focuses on Christ and His ministry. "The Savior's Ministry" exhibit features the heroic-sized Christus, a duplicate of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's original in Copenhagen, Denmark. Murals depicting scenes form Old and New Testament, an interactive model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ. On the lower level "Scriptures and Revelation" exhibits give visitors the opportunity to see and hear video messages from current Church president, Gordon B. Hinckley, members of the Church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and recent talks from the Church's semi-annual General Conferences. Multimedia displays tell scriptural stories from the Bible, the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and the Pearl of Great Price. A new exhibit on Joseph Smith and the restoration process. The "Love Thy Neighbor" displays show the application of gospel principles in life. Legacy, an epic motion picture that dramatically depicts the early history of the Church. SOUTH VISTOR CENTER The South Visitor Center focuses on Temples and Families. It has exhibits on the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. Other exhibits focus on the eternal nature of a family, family history, strengthening families and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" - issued by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1995. | THINGS TO DO AROUND TEMPLE SQUARE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY The Family History Library is the largest library of its kind in the world. It is over 100 years old since it was established in 1894, with the founding of the Genealogical Society of Utah. Today the library has records of more than 2 billion names in data bases; 2.4 million rolls of microfilm; and 278,000 books. If you're new to genealogy, visit the FamilySearch Center located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for an introduction and orientation. The Library is opened on Monday: 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Tuesday–Saturday: 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. MUSEUM OF CHURCH HISTORY AND ART The Museum was opened in 1983. It has four rotating exhibits and several permanent displays chronicling the history of the Church. A cabin just to the south of the Museum is one of only two surviving structures built in 1847, when the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. New Church History Library will be built and completed towards the end of 2007. The museum is open to the public seven days a week year round, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It is closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Easter. CHURCH OFFICE BUIDLING The Church Office Building is the 28-story Church Office Building, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 26th-floor observation decks will give you a full view of the Wasatch mountain range on the east, the Oquirrh range to the West, and the State Capitol Building to the North. A view from this observation deck is a great way to become well oriented on your visit to Salt Lake City and to get a brief history of surrounding buildings given by trained volunteers at this site. RELIEF SOCIETY BUILDING The Relief Society Building was built in 1956 using funds donated by women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and matched by the Church. It is world headquarters for three auxiliary organizations of the Church: Primary (for children), Young Women (12-17 years), and Relief Society (for adult women). On the lower level you can visit a resource center which has helpful ideas and displays designed to strengthen home and family. CHURCH ADMINISTRATION BUILDING The Church Administration Building was built in 1914 to meet the need of fast growing membership of the church. It has the offices of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.Over the decades, the Administration Building has hosted numerous religious leaders and heads of state. CONFERENCE CENTER The Conference Center was completed on 8 October 2000 and it is believed to be the largest religious auditorium. It seets 21,000 people. It is used primarily for the semianual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but it is also used for various music and cultural performances. The roof of the center has alpine meadow and gardens, several pools and a 67-foot waterfall. You can take a tour of this beautiful center with one of the volunteers as your guide. JOSEPH SMITH MEMORIAL BUILDING Built in early 1900 as first class Hotel Utah, it was renovated in 1993 and rededicated as The Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The Legacy Theater offers free showings on a giant 31-by-62-foot screen.You can view hour-long, award-winning movies created for the theater. Currently, the theater is running a film called Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration. In the past you could view The Testaments Of One Fold and One Shepherd, Jesus Christ's ministry in Jerusalem and Ancient America and Legacy, pioneers and their journey to Salt Lake City (still shown in the North Visitor Center Theatre). The building also features a Genealogical Center on the main floor and genealogical library on the fourth floor, where visitors can research their family history. The main floor is a part of Temple Square Mission and sister missionaries can help you and get you started or answer any of your questions. All services are free of charge. Although eight of the ten floors are reserved to Church offices, two restaurants The Roof and The Garden and scenic outlooks on the tenth floor, are open to the public. A number of banquet and meeting rooms are open to host numerous wedding receptions. BRIGHAM YOUNG HISTORIC PARK During the summer months (June through August), the Temple Square Concert Series presents Concerts in the Park held in the Brigham Young Historic Park on the southeast corner of State Street and Second Avenue. They begin at 8:00 P.M. during June and July and 7:30 P.M. during August. LION HOUSE The Historic Lion House was built in 1856 and served as one of the residences of Bigham Young.Today, the Lion House has been transformed into a restaurant and reception hall. The Pantry, a restaurant in the basement of the building, serves lunch Monday through Saturday from 11:00 till 2:00 p.m., and dinner on Thursday through Saturday evenings from 5:00 till 8:30 p.m. BEEHIVE HOUSE The Beehive House was built in 1854 and it was a home of Brigham Young who was the President of the church and the Governor of Utah Territory at the time. It was known as the "Beehive House" because of the beehives on the roof and in carvings throughout the home in such places as doorknobs and stairwells. The original home has been restored and is open for free guided tours. Tours run every 10 minutes Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays and holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EAGLE GATE The Eagle Gate, which spans State Street at South Temple, was built in 1859. It marked the entrance to Brigham Young's property. The original wooden eagle is on display at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum located at 300 North Main Street, phone 1-801-538-1050. BRIGHAM YOUNG GRAVE SITE Brigham Young Grave Site is on a grassy slope near his former home on the corner of State Street and South Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, in a small park. Brigham Young and a few of his family members are buried there. On 1 June 2001, the 200th anniversary of his birth, a new statue depicting Brigham Young reading to children was erected near his grave site. |