Sunday 25 March 2012

ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL - 2

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne has quite an interesting background. The Cathedral was proposed to be built in 1847, only 12 years after the establishment of Melbourne, and an area of land in the Eastern Hill area was granted by the Colonial Secretary of Victoria for its construction. The Cathedral was devoted to St. Patrick, a saint of Ireland, as a majority of Catholics in Melbourne at that time were Irish.

The construction of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, designed by William Wardell, took a long time to start due to several obstacles like the lack of labour during the Gold Rush of the 1850s. Almost 11 years after the proposal, the foundation stones were finally laid in 1858. The central area of the church was completed within 10 years but soon after that, work progressed at a very slow pace mainly due to the misery that struck Melbourne in 1891. The construction of the main part of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne was finally over in 1897. 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 famous because of its grand and awe-inspiring architecture which is in the Gothic Revival Style. This style refers to the imitation of the technique of church building in the middle ages and which was most admired in Europe and America in the late 19th century, spurring the constrction of gothic revival structures. The central area of the church is designed in the early English style while the rest of the building is more geometrical identifying with the later Gothic style.









And for Psalm Sunday hosted by Robert in Athens and Louis in SF, here is "O clarissima mater, response [De sancta Maria]" by Hildegard of Bingen.

12 comments:

  1. Great series of this wonderful cathedral!
    Thaks for sharing;o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1847 to 1939 ... speedy gonzalez they weren't. Having said that though, they DID get it right!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful series, Nick, and such superb captures of this magnificent cathedral! All of that and beautiful music as well! Thank you for a great start for my day! Have a wonderful week ahead!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  4. How gorgeous. Just wonderful series of images!

    ReplyDelete
  5. A wonderful building to see... many thanks for sharing your images.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is beautiful! I especially like the stained glass. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh wonderfull surprise to see such treasure. thank you very much for the great pictures and the video; your kind participation of course as well. please have a good new week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Magnificent photos, as always Nick.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You caught some wonderful light in St Pat's Nick.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely captures of such a grand place. Thanks Nick.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful shots of this imposing cathedral!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to comment, I'd really like to hear from you!
Please do not use this comment box to advertise your goods and services!