The most spacious Church in Australia – Cathedral of our lady help of Christians is located in the heart of the business centre of Sydney. Which has long been a national Shrine, in 1930 he received the honorary status of "minor Basilica", which means that in the case of the on-site visit of the Pope he could stay in this Cathedral.

Interesting history of the Cathedral, numbering nearly two centuries. Australia, as you know, were populated by exiles and convicts, many of whom were Catholics and which till 1820 had been forbidden to practice their religion. Only after the Declaration of the country of religious freedom appeared the possibility of building in Sydney the Catholic Church – the first stone in its Foundation was laid in 1821. The Cathedral, erected within a few years, was built in neo-Gothic style and took the form of a Latin cross. However, it did not last long – in 1865, most of the buildings burned down during the fire. A new Cathedral was started three years later, and this time not in a hurry: in 1882 were sanctified space of the first phase, construction of the main nave was completed in 1928, and the crypt was built only in 1961! Thus, the construction lasted for almost a hundred years. Moreover, a separate construction work continues in our days – for example, in 2000, over two towers of the facade hoisted the spires.

The plan of the Cathedral of the virgin Mary is a traditional English churches form a Latin cross over the intersection of nave and transept, erected the bell tower. It is built of Golden Sandstone, which on the outside has acquired a brownish tint, while the inside retains the original color.

Inside the Cathedral you can see a lot of paintings depicting the stations of the cross. They were all written in Paris in the 19th century, and then transported to Australia. Here is a copy of the famous statue of the "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, about 40 of them and they cover a variety of topics.