St. Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral is one of Sydney’s oldest and grandest buildings. Built on land given to the Catholic Church during the earliest days of colonization (1820), the original church was almost completely destroyed by fire and later rebuilt in its current form. The building that stands on Sydney’s central College Street today was constructed from Sydney sandstone and is regarded as one of the finest examples of an English-style Gothic Cathedral in the world.

There are many notable architectural features in the Cathedral’s design, which was only fully realized 100 years after the architect William Wardell’s death. Most notable is the Cathedral’s local sandstone interior and façade, its beautiful stained glass windows (especially the three rose windows at the entrance and the huge chancel window), and the high central nave.

Don’t miss the Cathedral’s ornate crypt, which features a mosaic floor and an exhibition on the first Australian Catholics, which includes a detailed history of the Cathedral’s earliest beginnings.