Mary's Cathedral Church

Mary's Cathedral Church

• 1788 - The "First Fleet" arrives and Sydney is founded as a British convict settlement. Catholics are among the convicts and soldiers.

• 1820 - The first official Catholic Chaplains to the colony, Fr John Therry and Fr Philip Conolly arrive on May 3.

• 1821 - The foundation stone of the first St Mary's Chapel is laid by Governor Lachlan Macquarie and blessed by Fr Therry. The site of the chapel is near the convict barracks, on the edge of the town. It will be a stone building in a naive gothic style.

• 1835 - Sydney's first bishop, John Bede Polding OSB, arrives on September 13, as Vicar Apostolic of New Holland. St Mary’s Chapel becomes his Cathedral.

• 1842 - Polding becomes first Archbishop of Sydney.

• 1851 - Work on extensions to the Cathedral commences, to designs by A W N Pugin, the celebrated English architect and promoter of a more correct gothic style.

• 1865 - The first St Mary’s Cathedral is ruined by fire on the evening of June 29.

• 1868 - The foundation stone of a new Cathedral is blessed by Archbishop Polding. The new Cathedral is to be an outstanding example of gothic revival architecture, designed by William Wilkinson Wardell.

• 1877 - Roger Bede Vaughan OSB becomes Archbishop of Sydney.

• 1882 - The incomplete northern section of the new Cathedral is opened and dedicated.

• 1885 - Patrick Francis Moran becomes third Archbishop of Sydney, and is soon created Australia's first Cardinal.

• 1900 - The opened section and central tower are completed and dedicated.

• 1905 - Free of debt, the Cathedral is solemnly consecrated.

• 1911 - Archbishop Michael Kelly succeeds Cardinal Moran.

• 1928 - Construction of the nave is completed, and Archbishop Kelly opens the almost-complete Cathedral on September 2nd. (The total cost of construction amounted to approximately 700,000 over a period of 60 years.)

• 1930 - Pope Pius XI bestows on the Cathedral the title and dignity of a Minor Basilica.

• 1940 - Norman Thomas Gilroy, first Australian-born Archbishop of Sydney succeeds Archbishop Kelly and becomes Cardinal in 1946.

• 1970 - Pope Paul VI visits Sydney, celebrating Mass in the Cathedral.

• 1971 - Archbishop (later Cardinal) James Freeman succeeds Cardinal Gilroy.

• 1983 - Cardinal Freeman retires and Archbishop Edward Bede Clancy is appointed Archbishop of Sydney, being created Cardinal in 1988.

• 1986 & 1995 - Pope John Paul II visits St Mary’s Cathedral.

• 1998 - 2000 - The Spires, designed by Wardell, are built.

• 2001 - St Mary's is the location for the celebration of the Ninth World Day of the Sick.

• 2001 - Cardinal Clancy retires and Archbishop George Pell is appointed Archbishop of Sydney, becoming Cardinal in October 2003.

• 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI visits St Mary's Cathedral and dedicates the new Altar.

• 2010 - Blessed Mary MacKillop is canonised in Rome and given the title of St Mary of the Cross. Cardinal Pell unveils a statue of St Mary of the Cross at the Hyde Park entrance of St Mary's Cathedral.

Strand Arcade

Strand Arcade

When English architect, John Spencer unveiled his plans for the arcade in the mid-1880s he received a standing ovation. The plans were ambitious. The arcade was to be 340 feet (approximately 104 metres) long, and three storeys high, running between Pitt and George Streets. Magnificent cedar staircases at each end of the arcade led to the second and third floor galleries which were linked by a central bridge.

The arcade was one of the first Victorian buildings in Sydney designed to take into account the harsh Australian climate. The roof was to be made of glass, specially tinted to reduce glare, and the access gallery of the top floor was projected to shade the lower levels.

Spencer's plans were elegant. Delicate ironworks brackets to support the galleries and the railings, finely carved cedar balustrades and shopfronts, marble columns and richly tiled floor. The lighting was especially innovative, a combined gas and electric system was used in combination fittings designed by the architect, some of which still exist; the concourse was lit by two huge central chandeliers suspended from the crown of the roof trusses and having 50 gas jets and 50 electric lamps in each. There were also two Victorian state-of-the-art hydraulic lifts.

In the early period of its construction, the Arcade was referred to as the 'City Arcade' and sometimes known as 'Arcade Street'. In 1891, it was finally named after the famous London street that links the City of London and the City of Westminster. The Strand was London's smartest theatre, hotel and shopping street in the early 1900's.

When it opened on April Fools Day 1892 the Strand Arcade was regarded as the very latest in shopping centre designs and was described as: "The finest public thoroughfare in the Australian colonies."

One-hundred-and-eighteen years, two depressions, two World Wars and two major fires later, it still stands, a little out of place, in the heart of modern Sydney's CBD.

Vivid Sydney

Vivid Festival 

Vivid Sydney is an annual event of light, music and ideas, featuring industry forums, a
free exhibition of outdoor lighting, sculptures and installation, contemporary music and
the illumination of Sydney’s architecture. The City of Sydney partnered with Events NSW
to host the first festival in 2009. The festival continues to expand and activate new areas
of the city every year.
Vivid Sydney 2013 featured a 2.65 kilometre Light Walk from the Opera House to Darling
Harbour via The Rocks and Walsh Bay, which included over 60 interactive light
installations and major video-mapped projections on iconic buildings such as the Sydney
Opera House and Customs House.
The 2013 Light Walk event attracted over 800,000 cumulative visits across the 18 days
that it was held, with numerous people attending more than once. This represented a 45
per cent increase in attendees over the previous year.
Over 40,000 tickets were sold for Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House and more than
6,000 people attended the Vivid Ideas program at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The
event also received media coverage in over 200 countries. The event platform also
includes numerous industry conferences and events.
Visitors to the event predominantly come from metropolitan Sydney and regional NSW.
Recent events have also seen large and growing numbers of visitors from interstate and
overseas who have either visited or extended their stay in Sydney, specifically for Vivid.
Vivid’s economic contribution to Sydney is significant and growing.
In 2014, Vivid Sydney will take place over 18 days from 23 May to 9 June 2014. It is
proposed that this year’s festival extend further to new areas and create an additional
precinct in the CBD featuring new and refreshed content.
Destination NSW has approached the City seeking support for multi-year funding of Vivid
Sydney. The City has considered this request in light of the potential economic benefit
for local business and the City’s role in managing the public domain. To improve the
visitor experience of our city, support could be provided across cleansing, disability
access, information booths, guest services, security, signage and wayfinding and event
maps, with the details of in-kind support to be negotiated in each funding year.
Funding is subject to Destination NSW indicating how it plans to increase the footprint of
the event and increase opportunities for business in the City’s Local Government Area,
in particular food and beverage businesses. In return for City support of the event,
Destination NSW will seek feedback on the visitor experience and research how to
increase opportunities for business.
Funding for subsequent years will be dependent on provision to the City, in a timely way,
of a proposal for an event plan for expansion of the footprint of Vivid, supported by
research data from the previous year’s event.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Opening History

History 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened on 19 March 1932 in front of three-quarters of a million people. It was a day of remarkable celebration, involving a parade of floats and marching bands, fireworks and carnivals, as well as a procession of passenger ships and an aerial display by the Royal Australian Air Force. After the pageant, the public walked across the deck of the Bridge. Songs and poems were written about the proud opening of the Bridge and stamps were printed to commemorate the event. See video

While the day appeared to be one of joyful excitement and celebration, just beneath the surface was a great deal of political tension. A predominantly middle- class political group called the New Guard, which had formed in Sydney in 1931, had been plotting to use the opening of the Bridge to publicly make a political statement against New South Wales Premier, Jack Lang. The New Guard was an anti-Labor group, thought to have up to 50 000 members in New South Wales at one stage. It was led by World War I veteran, Colonel Eric Campbell. Almost resembling a military organisation in its structure, it strongly-appealed to ex-servicemen. The group considered themselves as nationalists and therefore totally against any socialism or communism. Its members were suspicious of Premier Lang's response to the Depression, believing that he was a communist.

In accordance with their plan, to the amusement of some and to the disgust of others, New Guard member, Captain Francis de Groot upstaged Premier Lang, who was set to officially open the Bridge, by riding in on horseback and slashing the ribbon with his sword. Premier Lang then had to wait for the ribbon to be retied before he could ceremonially cut the ribbon with his golden scissors. Captain de Groot was rushed away by police and later fined £5 for offensive behaviour. However, in a positive turn for the New Guard, Lang was dismissed as the New South Wales Premier only two months after the Bridge opened. After the dismissal of the Lang government, the New Guard had achieved its primary aim and as a result, no longer had a common goal. The Australian economy also slowly began to improve and it caused the group to lose momentum. While this particular movement could not be sustained, similar right-wing notions have continued to play a role in the sphere of Australian politics

Opera House History

History

When George Burns first saw the daringly innovative Sydney Opera House, "sailing" in Bennelong Point, he said: "I love it; wrap it up. I want to take it home." Though it's difficult to imagine what George would have done with 4 1/2 acres of granite, 1 million ceramic roof tiles, an acre-and-a-half of glass and 10 shells that vault as high as 220 feet into the sky, his voice would sure fall in love with those acoustics.

Sydney Opera House is a masterpiece of late modern architecture. It is admired internationally and proudly treasured by the people of Australia. In its short lifetime, Sydney Opera House has earned a reputation as a world-class performing arts centre and become a symbol of both Sydney and the Australian nation