Cultural sightseeing in Australia. What to visit - museums, temples, castles and palaces

» The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the largest public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia.
» The Gallery was built in 1897 in the classical style. In the same year the first two exhibition halls have been open; two more opened two years later.
» Exterior of the building is decorated with bronze sculptures symbolizing the contribution of the four great civilizations, Roman, Greek, Assyrian and Egyptian, to art.
» You can see works by many Australian artists of the 19th and 20th centuries in the gallery. There are also works by Rubens, Canaletto, Picasso, Rodin, Monet, Cezanne and other renowned artists.
» You can visit exhibition halls with Australian, European and Asian art for free.

Location on the map:   Interesting facts: » Brougham Place Uniting Church is a church in North Adelaide. The House of God is a local attraction.
»  The facade of the building faces the green recreation area. It is faced with light brown sandstone blocks. They attached to each other so tightly that make the construction monolithic.
»  The staircases lead to the entrance. They are separated with narrow rails. There are lanterns at the bottom of the stairs.
»  The main entrance of three doors is framed with small columns. Their tops have arched framing. There are round stained glass rose windows above them. There is a three-tiered tower above the central doorway.
»  The construction was projected by the architect Thomas Frost. The first stone was laid in the foundation on 15 May 1860. Eleven years later, the tower was added to the main building. It is crowned by a metal patterned spire.
»  The outer walls are blank. In the walls, there are small niches with columns inside.
»  The lecture hall appeared in 1878.
»  The organ was placed in the church only in 1871. It was quite strong at that time. The church is located on Brougham Place.
»  It had belonged to the Congregational Church before.

Location on the map:   Interesting facts: » The first stone of the future Cathedral of St Stephen was laid in late December 1863, on the Christian Great Martyr Remembrance Day.
»  The construction began in 1874 thanks to donations from laymen. The chapel standing nearby was designed by another architect. The cathedral was constructed in 1922.
»  Tuff, sandstone and porphyry were the foundation stones. Everything has signs of the modern Catholic style elements. It can be noticed in the spire on the turret as well.
»  The stained glass windows on the east side were once delivered from Munich. One of the windows is known as the "Mayne" window. It was made by an Irish craftsman.
»  On sunny days, the colourful glass windows create a fancy pattern on the stone floor tiles and walls.
»  The temple seems small from the outside, while the internal layout looks spacious because of huge ceilings. Following the best English traditions, the chants to the sounds of a unique organ can be heard in the holy place. They are performed by male choirs on Catholic holidays.
»  Numerous buildings were gradually erected on the territory of the cathedral: a school, a bishop's house, business premises for the Metropolis, a meeting hall. They are all different in architectural style.

» The Museum of Contemporary Art is the leading venue in the country. The museum collects exhibits of contemporary art in Australia and other countries.
» Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art was opened in 1991. Earlier the walls of the building housed maritime radio services, and in 1989 the building was given to the museum.
» The museum building constructed in Art Deco style, recently was the object of reconstruction, due to which nowadays the museum has more exhibition space.
» Museum collection consists of a wide variety of trends in contemporary art, from painting and sculpture to new media. The venue regularly hosts exhibitions and retrospectives of artists, as well as personal exhibitions and works by young artists.
» The main exhibition can be viewed for free. However, special exhibitions of foreign and Australian artists have admission fee.

» The exhibition space of the museum impresses with its size. It is divided into two hangars. Some exhibits are displayed on the open platform but are not subjected to natural forces.
»  The museum is aimed at showing railway mechanisms and trains and at telling the history of the development of services in this field. Here, it is also interesting to learn about the facilities in carriages and conditions, in which people travel. You can not only see everything inside, but also touch exhibits. There is the replica of luxury compartments with leather furniture.
»  For tourists’ convenience, a small train with an open platform travels around the territory. It runs on coal.
»  Exhibitions stands are miniature but it is easy to understand what they mean.
»  More than 400 railway exhibits also include carriages and locomotives. The museum has a total area of 8 hectares.
»  Here, you can see such interesting exhibits, as the train traveling by the same route since 1862, the fastest locomotive running at a maximum speed of 202.7 kmh, and the compartment where queens traveled. Graphic pictures of the schedule, tickets, outfits of workers, and movable models of trains are not the full list of historical exhibits kept here.

» In the city, there is a six-storey building that has a view of the life-sized skeleton of the cachalot. Here, you can see exhibits of the South Australian Museum.
»  The idea of building such a cultural institution was born in 1834. The exhibits in the museum will tell you about how the development of human beings.
»  3 thousand artifacts represent Papua New Guinea and Oceania. You can see the biodiversity of South Australia on the stands.
»  There is a special sector for cultural items of Australian aborigines. The other sector is dedicated to the cultural development of Ancient Egypt.
»  The gallery of the museum will acquaint you with the features of the region, its flora and fauna. You can learn about animals dwelling here at one time, for example, about the Tasmanian tiger.
»  On the shelves for the geological collection, you can see different minerals, fragments of meteorites, and fossils.
»  These exhibits have been found for 150 years. Scientific researches are also conducted here.
»  In the museum, there is also the department determining the origin of artifacts. Anyone can contact it to identify an ancient object and determine its value.

» The cathedral rises in the centre of the business district. The third bishop of Brisbane appealed to citizens asking them to help with the construction of the church.
»  The facade is made of stone. The pointed turrets, narrow lancet stained-glass windows, granite and basalt columns propping up the dome are characteristic of the neo-gothic European style.
»  The architectural plan was presented at the end of the 19th century. A son of the architect made a design change in 1947. The construction itself lasted for as long as a century. (1887-2009)
»  The temple was consecrated in the presence of 1,500 people. St. John's Cathedral was built on the site of the oldest All Saints Anglican Church (1862) with a wooden tower.
»  Helidon sandstone, which is a mixture of different minerals, was used for cladding the cathedral. It collects embroidered items and things carved from wood, glass and stone, made by local craftsmen. The collection of four hundred pillows depicts local flora and fauna.
»  Tourists can climb a narrow spiral staircase to get to the bell tower. The modern belfry was opened about 10 years ago and occupies 2 floors. 12 bells are hung on the upper floor. They still traditionally chime.

» The St. Paul Cathedral is the largest Anglican cathedral situated in the heart of Melbourne.
» The St. Paul Cathedral was built in the Gothic style; the famous English architect William Butterfield was the author of the project.
» The stone in the foundation of the cathedral was laid in 1880. The cathedral was consecrated on 22 January 1891. The majestic tower and the spire of the cathedral still weren’t ready till 1926.
» One of the main attractions of the church is the pipe organ imported from England; it’s regarded as one of the largest organs built in the 19th century. It’s considered one of the best surviving works of famous master T. Lewis.
» The spire of St. Paul Cathedral in Melbourne is the second tallest in the world of the Anglican Communion, second only to the cathedral in Salisbury.