Sydney - George Street

Construction of the neo-Gothic St Andrew's Cathedral began in 1837, it was completed and consecrated only in 1868.

These three 19th C buildings - the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building and St Andrew's Cathedral - formerly gave the George Street and Park Street area its distinctive character, but in recent years they have been overshadowed by high-rise office blocks.

The Town Hall (1869) is a medley of different architectural styles which has been compared to a richly decorated wedding cake. The Centennial Hall (1889), a large concert hall seating an audience of 2500, has one of the largest organs in the world.

Near the Town Hall are three Georgian-style buildings dating from the first half of the 19th C: the School of Arts (c 1836), a predecessor of the University of Technology (277 Pitt Street, near Park Street); the Pitt Street Uniting Church (1846; 264 Pitt Street), with two columns as in an Ionic temple; and the Judge's House (1826; 531 Kent Street), which was let to a judge in the 1830s.