New Norcia Attractions 
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The little town of New Norcia would be of little account but for the foundation of a Benedictine mission in the secluded Moore Valley on the Great Northern Highway in 1846 by two Spanish Benedictines, Rosendo Salvado and José Serra, who named it after Norcia (Nursia) in Italy, birthplace of St Benedict. The purpose of the mission was to convert the Aborigines. The mission now houses a Catholic college for girls.
The whole complex has the charm of Spanish colonial architecture. The extensive conventual buildings, with a beautiful inner courtyard, were completed in the early 20th C. The cathedral was built in 1860 and enlarged in 1907. The two richly decorated colleges date from 1908 and 1913.
The New Norcia Museum (formerly Garrido Hall) on the Great Northern Highway has a remarkable collection of art treasures: pictures by Spanish and Italian old masters (including Titian and Raphael), jewelry, antiquities, valuable manuscripts and books.
Among other 19th C relics are a flour mill of 1879, an apiary and a blacksmith's forge.
The whole complex has the charm of Spanish colonial architecture. The extensive conventual buildings, with a beautiful inner courtyard, were completed in the early 20th C. The cathedral was built in 1860 and enlarged in 1907. The two richly decorated colleges date from 1908 and 1913.
The New Norcia Museum (formerly Garrido Hall) on the Great Northern Highway has a remarkable collection of art treasures: pictures by Spanish and Italian old masters (including Titian and Raphael), jewelry, antiquities, valuable manuscripts and books.
Among other 19th C relics are a flour mill of 1879, an apiary and a blacksmith's forge.
