Temple Square: You Don't Have to Be LDS to Be Impressed

Temple Square: You Don't Have to Be LDS to Be Impressed

Ten acres in the center of Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Temple — 40 years in construction, granite quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon, six spires topped with the golden angel Moroni. Non-members can't enter the Temple itself. But you're here for the Tabernacle.

The Tabernacle is a massive dome-roofed auditorium from the 1860s, no interior pillars, wooden truss roof spanning 150 feet, and acoustics so sensitive that a pin dropped at the pulpit can be heard in the back row 170 feet away. The guides will demonstrate this. The click is actually audible. It's actually startling.

The Tabernacle organ — 11,623 pipes, pencil-thickness to 32 feet tall — has free noon recitals Monday through Saturday, 30 minutes. Best free cultural experience in Utah. The bass notes vibrate in your chest, treble rings in the dome, and the whole building seems to breathe with the instrument. Whatever you think about the theology, the engineering is undeniable.

The Conference Center across the street has a rooftop garden — 3.5 acres of native grasses and wildflowers with a waterfall — that most visitors don't know is open to the public. The view from the roof puts everything in perspective.