Government House is a castle-like structure defined by its sandstone battlements, turrets, and crenellations overlooking Farm Cove. Designed in the Gothic Revival style, the building reflects the aesthetic of nineteenth-century British…
Historic Macquarie Street
Walk along Sydney's premier historic boulevard to see the grand sandstone institutions of the colonial and Victorian eras. You'll see how early Sydney transformed from a harsh penal colony into a prestigious civic city.
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1. Government House
2. Chief Secretary’s Building
The Chief Secretary’s Building stands as a massive, five-story block of yellow sandstone occupying the corner of Macquarie and Bridge Streets. Designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet, the structure served as the primary seat of…
3. State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales occupies a grand sandstone complex on Macquarie Street, defined by the sweeping neoclassical facade of its Mitchell Wing. As the oldest continuously operating library in Australia, it traces its origins…
4. NSW Parliament
The New South Wales Parliament building is distinguished by a two-story Georgian façade featuring a colonnaded front that faces Macquarie Street. This structure is the oldest public building still standing in the city of Sydney. Its…
5. Sydney Eye Hospital
The Sydney Eye Hospital is recognized by the sprawling, modern clinical building that sits alongside the historic architecture of the Macquarie Street campus. While the eye hospital itself was established in eighteen eighty-two at Millers…
6. The Mint
The Mint is a sandstone structure on Macquarie Street that began as the southern wing of a hospital built between eighteen eleven and eighteen sixteen. Its builders were famously paid with a three-year monopoly on importing rum, earning…
7. Hyde Park Barracks
The Hyde Park Barracks sits at the end of Macquarie Street as a three-story brick building defined by a massive shingled roof and a striking, restrained Georgian facade. Designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway and constructed…
8. St James' Church, Sydney
St James' Church is the oldest church building in Sydney, standing on King Street with a tall, distinct spire and a facade of face brick articulated by piers. Consecrated on February eleventh, eighteen twenty-four, it was designed in the…