By now it was approaching mid afternoon and it was time we became selective about our sight seeing or else, due to time constraints we were going to miss out on things we really wanted to see.
Being Sunday, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which houses the Family Search Center and the Family History Library were both closed and we put these aside for the following day. We strolled through the beautiful gardens and left the walled area of Temple Square in order to cross busy, North Temple street and reach The Conference Center. This had been pointed out to us by our driver from the airport last evening and he had recommended it as being well worth a visit.
The only way to visit The Conference Center is on a guided tour, these tours are not scheduled and unless you are a large party simply turn up at door 15 and one of the guides, all members of The Church of The Latter-Day Saints, will be assigned to you.
Our guide, Barbara, asked us what we particularly wanted to see, but having no idea what was on offer, other than the roof garden we left it to her to choose some of the things she thought we would appreciate the most.
We started with the auditorium which has no visible support columns and seats 21000 people, it is believed to be the largest theatre style auditorium ever built. Barbara told us that there were no bad seats in the house, all have unobstructed views of the stage and ' surround sound ' from yet another magnificent pipe organ which accompanies The Tabernacle Choir who hold recitals there. Barbara took us to the third floor to show us the fabulous chandelier suspended in a skylight of the building' s interior, it is stunning in appearance, very modern and very unusual. The third floor is also home to a display of busts and photographs of past presidents of the church which are displayed in chronological order right up to the current day.
The site of The Conference Center is at the base of Capitol Hill and during construction it was decided that, in order to prevent higher, neighboring properties having to look down on an ugly roof, the roof of the center would be made more visually attractive by landscaping it. The landscaping consists of trees and grassy areas and is intended to represent the alpine meadows of Utah but there is a lot of concrete and in contrast to the beautiful gardens of Temple Square it lacks colour.
Up here on the roof is a monument to the Mormon Pioneers and from a roof top spire a waterfall tumbles down the outside of the building.
From the outside, this huge building is fairly unremarkable, but inside is well worth a visit, made exceptionally enjoyable by our very friendly guide.
Being Sunday, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which houses the Family Search Center and the Family History Library were both closed and we put these aside for the following day. We strolled through the beautiful gardens and left the walled area of Temple Square in order to cross busy, North Temple street and reach The Conference Center. This had been pointed out to us by our driver from the airport last evening and he had recommended it as being well worth a visit.
The only way to visit The Conference Center is on a guided tour, these tours are not scheduled and unless you are a large party simply turn up at door 15 and one of the guides, all members of The Church of The Latter-Day Saints, will be assigned to you.
Our guide, Barbara, asked us what we particularly wanted to see, but having no idea what was on offer, other than the roof garden we left it to her to choose some of the things she thought we would appreciate the most.
We started with the auditorium which has no visible support columns and seats 21000 people, it is believed to be the largest theatre style auditorium ever built. Barbara told us that there were no bad seats in the house, all have unobstructed views of the stage and ' surround sound ' from yet another magnificent pipe organ which accompanies The Tabernacle Choir who hold recitals there. Barbara took us to the third floor to show us the fabulous chandelier suspended in a skylight of the building' s interior, it is stunning in appearance, very modern and very unusual. The third floor is also home to a display of busts and photographs of past presidents of the church which are displayed in chronological order right up to the current day.
The site of The Conference Center is at the base of Capitol Hill and during construction it was decided that, in order to prevent higher, neighboring properties having to look down on an ugly roof, the roof of the center would be made more visually attractive by landscaping it. The landscaping consists of trees and grassy areas and is intended to represent the alpine meadows of Utah but there is a lot of concrete and in contrast to the beautiful gardens of Temple Square it lacks colour.
Up here on the roof is a monument to the Mormon Pioneers and from a roof top spire a waterfall tumbles down the outside of the building.
From the outside, this huge building is fairly unremarkable, but inside is well worth a visit, made exceptionally enjoyable by our very friendly guide.