What Mecca is to the Moslems and Rome is to the Catholics is what Salt Lake City is to the Mormons and it is the capital of the U.S. federal state of Utah.

Four mighty walls surround the four hectare area in the middle of the old town, the centre of the Mormon Church, Temple Square. It is decorated with flowers and contains the most important sacred buildings of the Mormon community such as the Salt Lake Temple, The Tabernacle and Conference Centre.

Joseph Smith was fifteen years old when he had his first vision. The angel MORINI appeared to him and gave him a number of sacred texts that led to the foundation of the Mormon church. A sacred land was established and a settlement created within the desert.

The largest sanctuary and centre of the Mormon faith is the Salt Lake Temple. Constructed of stone its use is restricted to the Mormon religion. It was built between 1853 and 1893 in grey granite New Gothic style with six towers, its main one being sixty eight metres high.

Construction of the Cathedral Of The Madeleine began in 1900 and was completed in 1909, a Christian building whose exterior is of Romantic design and with a Gothic interior.

Once both faith and diligence established this remarkable place. Since then Salt Lake City has become the centre of a hugely successful religious empire.