EAST MELBOURNE CHURCHES

St Patrick's Cathedral (left) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis Hart. In 1974 Pope Paul VI conferred the title and dignity of minor basilica on it. The cathedral is built on a traditional east-west axis, with the altar at the eastern end, symbolising belief in the resurrection of Christ. St Patrick's has the distinction of being both the tallest and, overall, the largest church building in Australia.

In 1848, the Augustinian friar James Goold was appointed the first bishop of Melbourne and became the fourth bishop in Australia, after Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide. Negotiations with the colonial government for the grant of five acres of land for a church in the Eastern Hill area began in 1848. On 1 April 1851, only 16 years after the foundation of Melbourne, the Colonial Secretary of Victoria finally granted the site to the Roman Catholic Church.

The first German Lutheran church (right) was built on the current site in 1854 by William Hellings to the designs of Bellairs, Kürsteiner & Co and was replaced in 1874 by the existing Gothic style bluestone church designed by Charles Blachmann and built by Henry Goedeke. All the original stained glass windows in the church were supplied by local stained glass company Ferguson & Urie in 1874.

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.