Home Destinations Australia and The Pacific Australia Sydney Sights St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral Review

Read our Sydney sights reviews. Or post your own.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Address: College and Cathedral Sts., Hyde Park, Sydney, New South Wales | Map It
Phone: 02/9220-0400

Category: Religious Sites
Location: Hyde Park

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 3.2/5

Fodor's Review:

The first St. Mary's was built here in 1821, but fire destroyed the chapel. Work on the present cathedral began in 1868. The spires weren't added until 2000, however. St. Mary's has some particularly fine stained-glass windows and a terrazzo floor in the crypt, where exhibitions are often held. The cathedral's large rose window was imported from England.

At the front of the cathedral stand statues of Cardinal Moran and Archbishop Kelly, two Irishmen who were prominent in Australia's Roman Catholic Church. Due to the high proportion of Irish men and women in the convict population, the Roman Catholic Church was often the voice of the oppressed in 19th-century Sydney, where anti-Catholic feeling ran high among the Protestant rulers. Australia's first cardinal, Patrick Moran, was a powerful exponent of Catholic education and a diplomat who did much to heal the rift between the two faiths. By contrast, Michael Kelly, his successor as head of the church in Sydney, was excessively pious and politically inept; Kelly and Moran remained at odds until Moran's death in 1911.

Cost: Tour free
Open: Weekdays 6:30AM-6:30 PM, Sat. 8-7:30, Sun. 6:30 AM-7:30 PM; tour Sun. at noon

Find more sights in Sydney »

Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by drkenrich from Los Angeles, CA on 4/6/07
This is right next to the Hyde Park Barracks and Hyde Park itself.
I'm not into great cathedrals and have seen better but this was nice to explore for a little while what I was waiting for the Barracks to open.
It's big and has some impressive stained glass windows. Other than that, you would have to wait for a later time tour of the catacombs under the floor of the cathedral where many of the priests and bishops have been buried.

Member Rating: 3.2
Ratings details: Experience: 3.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 3.0 Don't Miss: 2.0

Add your own review

Get Advice From Other Travelers

Visit the Travel Talk forums for help on planning your trip

Shipping Lugage Internationally
1 response on 11/25/2009 at 06:43 AM
Geelong for overnight before GOR?
4 responses; most recent on 11/25/2009 at 06:41 AM
Hotel chains, recommendations
6 responses; most recent on 11/25/2009 at 05:40 AM