Gilgal Gardens, Summum, and the International Peace Gardens

I'm in Salt Lake City and staying with my old college roommate Dominik at his apartment. I spent my first full day exploring Temple Square and the state capitol building, and in the evening when Dominik got off of work, he offered to take me around to see some of the Salt Lake's quirkier and less well-known attractions.

We pulled up in a small, nondescript neighborhood and parked. Dominik led me down a small, paved path between two residential houses which suddenly opened up into one of the strangest places I've seen.

Gilgal Gardens is a small free sculpture garden and one of Salt Lake City's most notorious weird attractions. The park, which is filled with what Wikipedia describes as "unusual symbolic statuary associated with Mormonism" (a description even better than anything I could have come up with, was opened in 1947 by Thomas Battersby Child Jr., a Salt Lake City businessman and devout Mormon. His purpose was to create a piece of "visionary art" which would transcend the viewers and cause them to contemplate on the mysteries of faith.

The word "Gilgal" is a biblical word referring to a circle of standing stones and also the name of a city referenced in the Book of Mormon.

King Nebuchadnezzar's dream from the Book of Daniel.

Child knew that the odd, slightly eerie garden would be controversial, and was quoted as saying, "You don't have to agree with me. You may think I am a nut, but I hope I have aroused your thinking and curiosity."

Captain of the Lord's Host

The most famous, and certainly the most unsettling statue is "The Sphinx", a sculpture of the mythological beast with the face of Joseph Smith.

According to the garden's official website and literature, "The Sphinx represents Child’s belief that the answers to life’s great questions cannot be discovered with the intellect, but only through faith. The sphinx is an ancient symbol of riddles and mystery. Joseph Smith’s face symbolizes Child’s conviction that the LDS Priesthood reveals to mankind the answers to life’s mysteries."

As we were leaving Gilgal Gardens, Dominik turned to me and asked, "do you want to see the pyramid?"

"I didn't know that there even was a pyramid here!" I told him. "Of course I want to see the pyramid!"

A short drive later we pulled up in front of what was indeed a pyramid! This is the headquarters of Summum, a new age religion dating back to 1975 with religious practices that "draw on both Ancient Egyptian religion and the Hebrew prophet Moses." They also practice mummification and even offer pet mummification. 

Next, we drove to the International Peace Gardens, a large city park with sections maintained by each of Salt Lake City's 28 participating ethnic and cultural communities. Each community designs and maintains a section of the park.

the Swiss garden features the Matterhorn and a traditional house

The International Peace Gardens was established in 1939, but ironically the outbreak of the Second World War delayed the opening until 1952.

the British garden has lots of roses and oddly a bust of Margaret Thatcher

It's a large park, and very popular. There were tons of people out enjoying the cool evening air, walking around, playing with their dogs, and just generally enjoying the nice atmosphere.

the Japanese garden was quite traditional

I really like how laid-back Salt Lake City is, as well as how outdoorsy it is. People really seem to appreciate being outside and seem to take great pride in their public spaces like this park.

After all of this, we were getting hungry. We decided to eat at one of the city's most famous local restaurants, Red Iguana. This family run restaurant has been serving up delicious Mexican food since 1965, and was even visited by Guy Fieri for his show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. 

Red Iguana is famous for their Mexican mole, so of course that's what I had to try! I ordered the mole negro, a rich, sweet, and savory mole made from various dark dried chilies, Mexican chocolate, raisins, peanuts, walnuts, and bananas tossed with shredded chicken. It was rich, decadent, and super filling, and I loved the combination of the strong, sweet, and earthy flavors.

I'd call the first full day in Salt Lake City a success, but there was still a lot more to see over the next few days of my visit.