The most spacious church in Australia - Cathedral of Our Lady Help of Christians - is located in the heart of Sydney's CBD. Has long been a national shrine, in 1930 he received an honorary status "basilica minor", which means that in the event of the visit of the Pope, he can stay in this cathedral.

The history of the cathedral, almost two centuries .  Australia is known to be populated by exiles and convicts, many of whom were Catholics and that until 1820 it was forbidden to practice their religion .  Just after the announcement of religious freedom in the country an opportunity to build the Sydney Catholic Church - the first stone of its foundation was laid in 1821 .  The Cathedral, built in a few years, was built in the Gothic Revival style and was in the form of a Latin cross .  However, it existed not for long - in 1865 a large part of the building burned down during a fire .  New Cathedral began building three years later, and this time not in a hurry: in 1882 the premises were consecrated the first phase, the construction of the main nave was completed in 1928, and the crypt was built only in 1961! Thus, the construction lasted almost a hundred years .  Moreover, some construction work going on in our day - for example, in 2000 on the two towers of the facade hoisted spiers . 

Plan of the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary to a traditional form of English churches - a Latin cross, where the intersection of the nave and transept built bell tower. It is built of golden sandstone, which has acquired a brownish tint on the outside, but inside has retained its original color.

Inside the cathedral you can see many paintings depicting the Way of the Cross. All of them were written in Paris in the 19th century, and then moved to Australia. There is also a copy of the famous statue "Pieta" by Michelangelo, the original of which is kept in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. In addition, the cathedral is famous for its stained glass windows, which were created for nearly 50 years - there are about 40 and they are all devoted to various topics.