St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

St Andrew's Cathedral (GPS: -33.8739, 151.20634) is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Sydney. Located in the heart of Sydney, a short distance from Sydney Town Hall, St Andrew's Cathedral was consecrated in 1868, making it one of the oldest cathedrals in Australia. It is one of Sydney's finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture, and stands as " ... a perfect example of the colonial desire to reproduce England in Australia in the mid nineteenth century". The person instrumental in its construction was Lachlan Macquarie, the early Governor of New South Wales.

St Andrew's Cathedral was built to the cruciform shape traditional of Christian Churches and symbolic of the faith. Like most cathedrals, it is orientated on an east-west axis, with the main door to the West and the sanctuary to the East. However, located to the east of St Andrew's Cathedral is George Street, Sydney's main thoroughfare. The noise from the street frequently drowned out the service of Holy Communion.

In 1941 the interior was reoriented. The West door of St Andrew's Cathedral was permanently closed and the Reredos was placed immediately in front of it. Although by doing this, the trams would not have seemed so loud, the effect on the internal acoustic was disastrous. Between 1999 and 2000 major conservation and restoration work was undertaken to restore the original internal layout, whereby the Sanctuary was relocated at the Cathedral's Eastern end.

St Andrew's Cathedral is on the Map of Sydney, Australia

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