Cathedrals in Australia - St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
By Team MavEtJu on 05-Oct-17. Waypoint GA10878

Cathedrals in Australia - St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

In 1858 William Wardell was commissioned to plan the cathedral with a contract signed on 8 December 1858 and building commencing the same year.

Although the nave was completed within 10 years, construction proceeded slowly, and was further delayed by the severe depression which hit Melbourne in 1891. Under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Carr the cathedral was consecrated in 1897 and even then it was not finished. Given the size of the Catholic community at the time, the massive bluestone Gothic cathedral was an immense and very expensive undertaking, and there were long delays while funds were raised. St Patrick's was one of the two largest churches brought to substantial completion anywhere in the world in the 19th century. The other is St Patrick's Cathedral, New York, United States.

Daniel Mannix, who became Archbishop of Melbourne in 1917, maintained a constant interest in the cathedral, which he was determined to see finished after the long delays during the previous 30 years. He oversaw the addition of the spires and other elements in the late 1930s. The building was officially completed in 1939.

The cathedral is 103.6 metres (340 ft) long on its long axis, 56.4 metres (185 ft) wide across the transepts and 25.3 metres (83 ft) wide across the nave. The nave and transepts are 28.9 metres (95 ft) high. The central spire is 105 metres (344 ft) high and the flanking towers and spires are 61.9 metres (203 ft) high. The bluestone used in its construction was sourced from basalt deposits in nearby Footscray.

For more information, see the Wikipedia entry.

Denomination: Roman Catholic
Founded: 1858

When logging this virtual cache, please add a photo of yourself and/or your GNSSr receiver in front of this building!