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St Patrick’s Cathedral
About the building
Dedicated on 29 November 2003, St Patrick’s Cathedral is the first Australian cathedral built in the new millennium, and the first place of worship to earn a Royal Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Award. Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects (MGT), with Romaldo Giurgola as lead architect, designed the new cathedral after a fire in 1996 destroyed all but the stone walls of the church that had stood on the site for 60 years. The contemporary design incorporates the insights of Vatican II, and the building’s large volumes and sacred spaces are enriched with natural light and the work of Australian artisans, craftspeople and artists. Internally connected to the cathedral, the small and intimate Blessed Sacrament Chapel has been restored from the shell of the former building.
The cathedral is the fifth structure built on the historic site, which has been integral to Catholic worship in Parramatta for more than 200 years. In 1827, work on Parramatta’s first church began, using funds raised from local early settlers. Construction was slow, and when the structure was still unroofed eight years later, foundation stones for a new church were laid nearby on the site. While the earlier structure would become a schoolhouse on completion, the latter building was consecrated by Australia’s first Archbishop – Archbishop John Bede Polding – in 1837, opening St Patrick’s Church to the community for the first time.
Two decades later, the church had fallen into disrepair and was demolished and rebuilt in 1857 to a design by A W N Pugin. In 1936, the congregation had outgrown the space, leading to the main body of the church being demolished once again to make way for a new, larger St Patrick’s.
In 1986, St Patrick’s became the Cathedral Church in the new diocese of Parramatta, an area that stretches in a wedge from Rydalmere to Blackheath. After a fire destroyed the church in 1996, the tower and side walls of the nave were all that remained. The then bishop proclaimed that ‘a new St Patrick’s will rise from these ashes’ – and it did.
On 29 November 2003, the new St Patrick’s Cathedral was opened. The design by Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects (MGT) is a departure from the typical Catholic cathedral and echoes their earlier work on new Parliament House in Canberra. What remained of the old structure was restored and transformed into a chapel, while a soaring, 800-seat atrium adjoins the original site and forms the new cathedral.
Talks, tours and more
Built
2003
Architect
Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects (MGT), 2003
Clement Glancey & Associates, 1930s
Awards
Royal Australian Institute of Architects – Sir Zelman Cowen Award for the Most Outstanding Work of Public Architecture in Australia, 2004
Find out more about this building here
St Patrick’s Cathedral
1 Marist Place, Parramatta
Entry details
Attendees will have access to the cathedral, the chapel and Murphy House
10am–4pm
3.45pm
Talks, tours and more
Need to know
Accessible featuresThere is ramp or level (step-free) entry. Assistance animals are welcome
Toilets availableAccessible toilets
Photography allowed
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