Salt Lake Temple

The Salt Lake Temple is a Mormon temple located in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the fourth Mormon temple to be dedicated and stands on a site selected by the Mormon prophet Brigham Young.

Because of its historical significance and location at church headquarters, the Salt Lake Temple is the most important temple for Mormons, attracting many Latter-Day Saint pilgrims. It is also central to Salt Lake City, literally: streets are numbered according to their distance from the temple.

On July 28, 1847, just days after the arrival of the first wagons of Latter-day Saint settlers in the Great Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young drove a cane in the dry ground and announced that they would build a temple at that very site.

The groundbreaking ceremony, presided over by Brigham Young, took place on February 14, 1853. The temple was completed and officially dedicated in April 1893.

The Salt Lake Temple is made of granite quarried from a canyon 20 miles south of Salt Lake City. Its six-spire design is based in the Gothic style, but the overall design is unique and symbolic.

Inside, the temple covers 253,015 square feet and contains 12 sealing rooms and four progressive-style ordinance rooms.