St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral
Built from 1880 to 1892 from the designs of William Butterfield, a famous English Gothic revival architect, Anglican St. Paul’s Cathedral is noteworthy for its highly decorative interior and the English organ built by T. S Lewis. Step inside to see gold mosaics on walls, Victorian tessellated tiles on the floors, intricate woodcarvings, and stained-glass windows. The cathedral sports the second highest spire (98m/321 ft.) in the Anglican Communion. A boys’ choir sings at 5:10pm Monday through Friday during school times, and on Sunday at 10:30am and 6pm. Outside is a statue of Matthew Flinders, the first sailor to navigate the Australian mainland between 1801 and 1803.
Melbourne’s social, cultural and spiritual compass points meet at Flinders and Swanston Street, with a landmark on each corner: Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Young and Jackson’s pub, and St Paul’s Cathedral.
It looks out of time because it is one of the only major buildings in Melbourne that dates from before the 1850s gold rush. The church with its fortress mentality would look quite at home sitting amongst companions of its own age and attitude in The Rocks in Sydney. But it looks more like a lonely ancient relic in ‘modern’ (i.e. 1880s) Melbourne.