Salt Lake Temple

솔트레이크 성전

The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It took 40 years to build, from 1853 to 1893, and was dedicated in 1893. It is the sixth temple the church completed and the fourth since members moved from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Utah in the 1840s. At 382,207 square feet it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Salt Lake City, USA
Built: 1893
Height: 64 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Salt Lake Temple?

Salt Lake Temple is in Salt Lake City, USA, United States.

When was Salt Lake Temple built?

Salt Lake Temple was built in 1893.

How tall is Salt Lake Temple?

Salt Lake Temple is about 64 m tall.

A granite temple with six spires and a gilded Angel Moroni, built over forty years.

The temple is the centerpiece of the 10-acre Temple Square. Members of the church consider it sacred and need a special recommend to go inside, so the public cannot take tours of the inside, though the grounds are open and are a popular tourist spot. It closed in 2019 for remodeling, including making the structure safer in earthquakes. The church plans public open-house tours in 2027, after which it will be re-dedicated.

Choosing the spot

Brigham Young, the church's second president, marked the temple's spot on July 28, 1847, only four days after he reached the Salt Lake Valley, between two forks of City Creek. He said, 'Here will be the Temple of our God.' Heber C. Kimball dedicated the site on February 14, 1853, and Young laid the cornerstone on April 6, 1853, the 23rd anniversary of the church's founding. A 15-foot wall around the 10 acres was the first permanent structure on what became Temple Square.

Symbols and design

Some parts of the temple are thought to remind people of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The temple faces Jerusalem, and its big basin used as a baptismal font rests on the backs of twelve oxen, like the Molten Sea in Solomon's Temple. The center pinnacle on the east end rises 210 feet to the base of the gold angel Moroni. The temple also has special meeting rooms for the church's top leaders that other temples don't have.

A rare look inside

Because the inside is closed to the public, pictures are rare. The first public photographs of the interior were published in 1912 in a book called The House of the Lord by James E. Talmage, and Life magazine published others in 1938. Inside are rooms for the church's special ceremonies, such as marriage ceremonies, and meeting rooms for church leaders who gather there weekly.