Salt Lake Tabernacle

The Salt Lake Tabernacle, known worldwide as the Mormon Tabernacle, was the central place of worship of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Now a historic building in Temple Square, it is still used for overflow crowds during the General Conferences held by the church every six months. Construction began in 1863, and a balcony was added several years later to accommodate the growing number of saints migrating into the Salt Lake valley. The Tabernacle is the home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Related Topics:
Mormon - Salt Lake City - Utah - Temple Square - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The benches and columns supporting the balcony are made from the native white pine that the pioneers found in the area. Because they wanted to give their best to the Lord, they handpainted grain on the benches to look like oak and the pillars to resemble Tennessee marble.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Built at a time before electronics and audio amplifiers, the tabernacle was constructed with remarkable acoustic qualities so the entire congregation could hear sermons given there, mainly for General Conference. The elliptical concept supposedly came from Brigham Young, who Latter-day Saints consider a prophet. Henry Grow, an LDS civil engineer oversaw construction of the roof. The roof of the tabernacle was constructed in a three-dimensional ellipse with the pulpit at one focus. A large portion of the sound from the pulpit is then concentrated at the other focus at the opposite end of the building. This not only brings sound to the rear of the building but essentially doubles the amount of sound carried throughout the building. Furthermore, the roof rests on sandstone piers around the outside, without any interior supports that would impede the soundwaves. Missionary guides demonstrate the acoustic properties of the tabernacle by dropping pins on the pulpit and tearing newspaper, which are plainly heard throughout the building.

Related Topics:
Brigham Young - Latter-day Saint - Prophet - Henry Grow - Ellipse

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Tabernacle gives room for about 5000 People. The Organ is with 11 623 Pipes one of the bigest Organs in the world.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~