Sydney wears its fascinating history proudly - come, explore, and see for yourself

What do you know about Australia's largest city?

Did you realise that for more than thirty thousand years the Cadigal (or Gadigal) people had lived in what is now Australia's Sydney region? They had their own culture and customs and a deep affinity with the land. With the arrival of the First Fleet, life changed irrevocably. There were tensions, fears, misunderstandings and violence.

For the new arrivals, things were also uncomfortable. Drinking water and sometimes food were scarce. There were smallpox outbreaks, and the climate was completely different to that which they had been used to in England.

Convict labour was used to build roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings and by 1822 there were churches, hospitals, banks, and a police force.

In 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and it was declared the first city in Australia. A building boom followed, increasing with the discovery of gold in 1851.

Industrialisation followed creating rapid expansion with Sydney reaching a population of a million by the early 1900s. The Great Depression and two World Wars took their toll on the population and economy, and more immigrants continued to arrive.

Today, with a population of 4.5 million, Sydney is a prosperous, beautiful city with much to be proud of, a very different place to the shanty town of just over two hundred years ago.

Fun fact: Sydney's postcode is 2000, the same number as the year it hosted the Olympics.

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The evolving cathedral

Overlooking, Hyde Park, Sydney’s green heart, the spires of St Mary’s Cathedral dominate the landscape. Built in 1865 from sandstone quarried at Pyrmont, the cathedral’s inspiration is an impressive mix of French and English Gothic from the 13th and 14th centuries. 

There were many Catholics amongst the First Fleet convicts and soldiers, however it was not until 1820 that the first Catholic chaplains arrived. The following year the foundation stone of St Mary’s chapel was laid, near the convict barracks.

Tragedy struck in 1865 when the cathedral was destroyed by fire, but it was soon replaced by the present Gothic Revival building by 1868.

History is always being made, and after Mary MacKillop was canonised in Rome in 2010, a statue of St Mary of the Cross was unveiled at the Hyde Park entrance of St Mary's Cathedral.

Fun fact: The slender spires were only added in 2000. Until then the towers were flat-topped.

St Mary's Cathedral, Corner St Marys Road and College St, Sydney, www.stmaryscathedral.org.au

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The art gallery inspired by the Louvre

If political activists hadn’t lit a fire in the Louvre in Paris in 1871, it may have been much longer until Sydney was ever considered as an artistic centre, capable of housing world-class art. As it was, some believed Australia was a safer country in which to store priceless works.

An Academy of Art was established in Sydney in 1871 but the place used for classes and exhibitions moved around until 1885 when it was located at the present site. The façade and old wing of the current building were built between 1896 and 1909, with new extensions opened in the 1970s and 1980s.

There are regular exhibitions and the gallery is home to a wide selection of art ranging from aboriginal, early and modern Australian, Asian and Western art as well as contemporary art, photography and sculpture.

The glorious classical facade features the engraved names of great painters and sculptors.

Free one-hour public tours http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/type/tours/ are led by trained volunteer guides, bookings not essential.

Fun fact: Melbourne opened its art gallery a decade earlier, in 1861.

Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Rd, The Domain, Sydney, www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

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Pioneers in the park

Blink your eyes - are you seeing straight? In a pretty green park opposite St Vincent’s Hospital is a bandstand with a history. Erected in 1925 to host public band concerts which were hugely popular between the wars, it was converted to a café in the early 1990s.

Some think this lovely little park has less pleasant connections. Green Park was the home of Alexander Green, an insalubrious convict who lived here after he became the assistant hangman in 1828. He was eventually declared insane after dispatching 490 people in the colony, and dismissed in 1855. 

But don’t be alarmed, the park was actually named after Alderman James Green who represented the district from 1869 to 1883.

Fun fact: Alexander Green was said to be very ugly, with pockmarked skin and stumps for teeth.

Bandstand Cafe, Green Park, 301 Victoria St, Darlinghurst, www.bandstandcafe.com.au

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Architecture that caused a standoff

Every visitor to Sydney sees this icon of the city. However, the saga of the Sydney Opera House was long and painful. Despite this it belongs to the small group of international buildings instantly recognisable worldwide.

Seating 5200 people, the construction was paid for by a public lottery. It took 14 years to complete, employing thousands from 1958 to 1972, and its cost and design caused so much conflict that the Danish architect, Utzon, resigned before its completion. Tours http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/visit/tours.aspx of the Opera House have long been popular with visitors. Backstage Tours are also available, offering exclusive access.

Despite public misgivings at the time, it remains a proud symbol of the city.

Fun fact: An attempt to set a new mass tap-dancing record was made on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in May 1985. Performed to the music of Waltzing Matilda it was unsuccessful as only 1500 tappers attended.

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney, www.sydneyoperahouse.com

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Two centuries old and still on the job

This little cottage in a park has much to tell. Cadman's Cottage, built in 1816, is the oldest surviving residential building in Sydney. Although originally planned as barracks it was occupied by Governor Macquarie's coxwain, ex-convict John Cadman, and his family, then later, other coxwains and their families.

It has been a busy 200 years for the cottage: home, offices, water transport headquarters,sailors’ home, water police station, and who knows what else?

Restoration began in 1972, and today, it is a historic site . On the lower floor there is an exhibition about early life in Sydney.

Fun fact: The cottage is also used as the Sydney Harbour National Park Information Centre. The office is open to answer visitor enquiries and to take bookings for all the Sydney Harbour Islands

Cadman’s Cottage, 110 George St, The Rocks, www.environment.nsw.gov.au/contact/SydneyHarbourCadmansCottage.htm

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Thirst for new land

A search for fresh drinking water led to the first recorded contact between Aboriginal people and British explorers in eastern Australia. It was a meeting which would change two races in many ways when on April 29, 1770 Lt. James Cook and his crew made first landfall on the Kurnell Peninsula.

This expedition led to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the British occupation of the Australian continent, symbolically representing both the birthplace of a nation and the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples.

Captain Cook's Landing Place, part of Botany Bay National Park, features historic monuments, picnic areas, wood barbecues, walking tracks and the Visitor Centre which has a wetlands and Cook exhibitions.

It is said that the first European to come ashore was a cabin boy, Isaac Smith who, before the more official people could land, jumped from the ship's boat  onto the sands of what is now Kurnell in Botany Bay.

If you cannot make the longish drive to the peninsula, there is this statue in Hyde Park in the city centre.

Fun fact: In some Aboriginal stories, Kurnell Peninsula is called 'The Foot', the place where Cook's foot first connected with Australian land. Captain Cook stories exist in parts of aboriginal Australia which the explorer never visited.

Kurnell Peninsula Headland, Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Cape Solander Drive, Kurnell, www.heritage.gov.au

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Commander of the First Fleet

Governor Arthur Phillip is best known as the commander of the First Fleet of 11 ships which arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788. Having joined the navy at 15, he was not quite 50 when he arrived in Australia.

The first five years leading the infant colony were dangerous and difficult, and the colony’s first church, St Phillip’s, named for the Governor, was built where Lang Park is now, near Wynyard. A and simple plaque commemorates this.

Much grander is a large statue and fountain in the Royal Botanic Gardens (above) near the Palace Gates, where Phillip stands like a conquering hero gazing out over the harbour into which he sailed so long ago. His name is found in Phillip Streets in Sydney and Parramatta, and also Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta, and the Governor Phillip Tower near Phillip Street in the city centre.

Interesting Fact: Phillip was buried in St Nicholas's Church, Bathampton, UK. His grave was rediscovered in 1897 and  Sir Henry Parkes, then Premier of New South Wales, had it restored. 

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Music from a castle

After refurbishment a few years ago, ‘The Con’ as it is affectionately called, sits like a medieval castle, its battlements overlooking the Royal Botanic Gardens and Government House.

Founded in 1915, the first conservatorium in Australia, was based on the model of the European Conservatoire.

Most famous chief was conductor and composer Eugene Goosens (1946 -1956) who campaigned tirelessly for an opera house and performance facility at Bennelong Point. In fact the first opera series in Australia began at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. It was also home to Australia’s first full-time orchestra. Guided tours are available, bookings only.

Fun fact: The Conservatorium was originally built as the Government House stables, but it has now housed students for longer than it did horses.

Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Conservatorium Rd, Sydney, http://sydney.edu.au/music/

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Eighteenth-century self-sufficiency

This National Trust of Australia (NSW) property stands on the site of the first land grant in Australia given in 1789 to the former convict James Ruse. In 1793 he sold the land to Surgeon John Harris who built this charming Indian bungalow.

A friendly welcome awaits you before you explore this simple but elegant cottage and embrace its occupants’ stories. The relaxed atmosphere and fine colonial furnishings take you to a time of colonial pioneering and development.

Fun fact: Ruse was granted this land as an experiment in self-sufficiency. He was also given two sows and six hens.

Experiment Farm Cottage, 9 Ruse Street, Harris Park, www.nationaltrust.com.au/placestovisit/efc/

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What is this island?

It’s the little place with two names that visitors to Sydney often wonder about as they take a ferry to Manly.

Is it an old gaol? Not really, although in the first days of the colony, a few miscreants spent time in exile there, often dying of starvation, possibly explaining the nickname, Pinchgut.

Construction of Fort Denison began in 1840 as part of Sydney Harbour's defence against invasion, and daily at 1pm the cannon time-signal can still be heard across the harbour. A shot has never been fired in anger by it, though.

It’s possible to take a special ferry to visit and take a 30-minute guided tour to explore the powder magazine and climb the narrow spiral staircase of Australia's only Martello tower and enjoy views of the harbour.

Fun fact: The island’s Aboriginal name was Mat-te-wan-ye, also spelt Muttewai or Muttenwaya but Governor Arthur Phillip creatively renamed it Rock Island

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www.fortdenison.com.au/

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Stamp of approval

Designed by colonial architect James Barnet, the GPO building was constructed in five stages from 1866 to 1891. Barnet's building features a Italian renaissance palazzo sandstone facade, with detailed external carvings and a colonnade running around the building at street level. Above the centre of the 100-metre Martin Place facade is the clock tower.

This building was the headquarters of the NSW postal system until 1996. Australia Post still has a Post Shop at the corner of Martin Place and George Street. The building now contains shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars under the company name GPO Sydney, as well as the Westin Hotel and other retail shops.

Modern uses of the original building:

Prime Restaurant: Original Dock Master's office

Coach Bar: Original Horse Stable

Crystal Bar: Original Mall Sorting Room

GPO Cheese & Wine Room: Storage Area and viewing window of archaeological work

Subterranean Bar & Grill: Original Horse and Cart unloading area

Tank Stream: Preserved original exposed pipes

Fun fact: For many years after being completed in 1891, the clock tower telegraphed weather messages from the South Coast using mechanically operated, colour-coded flags.

Sydney GPO (General Post Office), 1 Martin Place, Sydney, www.gposydney.com.au

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Sydney's 'coat-hanger'

On January 21, 1932, when the last of the six million rivets used in assembling what looks like the world’s largest Meccano project were driven through, no doubt Chief Engineer, DR JCC Bradfield breathed a mighty sigh of relief.

He would have felt much the same way when the two arches of the bridge, from the north and the south, finally joined perfectly 18 months before, at 10pm on 19th August 1930.

The strength of Sydney Harbour Bridge, the world's widest single-span bridge, was tested before its opening by placing 96 railway engines, equivalent in weight to 5900 family cars, or almost seven times the number of cars that could actually fit on the bridge at any one time.

Sometimes affectionately called ‘the coathanger’ because of its shape, groups may climb the arch or you can walk across the pedestrian  footpath.

Fun fact: The official opening of the distinctive Sydney Harbour Bridge on March 19, 1932, was hijacked by a man with a sword mounted on a galloping horse. Right wing New Guard member, Captain Francis de Groot burst through the assembled dignitaries, slashing the ceremonial ribbon before the Premier could do so.

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Let's go the the zoo...!

A favourite with kids and adults alike for almost a century, Sydney’s zoo was originally located at Billy Goat Swamp in Moore Park, now the site of Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls high schools. When it outgrew this site, the government granted land north of the harbour, however the original bear pit can still be seen beside Anzac Parade.

Taronga Zoo at Mosman, opened in 1916, housing animals from Moore Park and developing new attractions. The ornate entrance gate is particularly colourful and features many animals in the relief work on it.

Taronga is an aboriginal word meaning ‘beautiful view’ and there are many lovely views across Sydney Harbour from various parts of the zoo’s grounds.

Recently Taronga lost its oldest chimp, Bessie, aged around 60. Cookie, a Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, born in 1933, was sent from Taronga Zoo to Brookfield Zoo, Illinois, when he was a year old and he still survives.

Since the 1970s the zoo has focused more on education, conservation and research.

Fun fact: Taronga Zoo’s less restricted animal pens were inspired when secretary, Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, visited Hamburg Zoo.

Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head Road, Mosman, https://taronga.org.au/taronga-zooStreet and carpark parking.

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Putting a smile on Sydney faces for eighty years

The opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge made travel between suburbs north and south of the harbour much easier, and so as an additional lure, Luna Park, named for the New York amusement park, first opened in 1935. Located near the northern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the great grinning face of Luna Park is iconic ,and the park has become synonymous with fun for generations of families.

Following a tragic accident that claimed seven lives, Luna Park was closed from mid-1979 and much of the park was demolished. After opening and closing several times, Luna Park finally reopened in 2004 under new management.

Fun fact: The ‘face’ and towers of Luna Park measure nine metres wide. The current face is the eighth, based on Arthur Barton's 1950 Old King Cole version. The seventh is in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.

Luna Park Sydney, 1 Olympic Drive, Milsons Point, www.lunaparksydney.com/

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Noble tribute to bravery

Featuring 16 granite buttresses and granite figures which reflect on the loss caused by war the ANZAC War memorial is a beautiful tribute to Australia’s war dead.

On the first anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, a fund was opened to raise money to erect a permanent memorial to those from NSW who served in The Great War of 1914-1918. The idea gained momentum and a 1929 competition received entries from all over the world for its design.

Building commenced in 1930 and the Memorial was officially opened on 24 November 1934 by HRH The Duke of Gloucester. In 1984 the memorial was rededicated to include all Australians who have served their country in war.

Interesting fact: The war memorial’s design, a radical fusion of sculpture and architecture, caused uproar amongst architects when it was revealed in 1929.

ANZAC War Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney, www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/

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This eye-catching building with its romantic tower is the The Australian Steam Navigation (ASN Co) Building, constructed in 1884 in rare Pre-Federation Anglo-Dutch architectural style. This fine  example of Victorian office and warehouse development has served its time as a series of warehouses servicing the wharves, then more recently as government offices, so it is not open to the public.

Around 1894, the ASN building was one of the earliest in Sydney to be fitted with a water sprinkler system to combat fire, possibly the earliest still surviving in Sydney.

Definitely worth seeing, and while there you can also view the colourful and vibrant works of world-famous Australian artist, Ken Done. His  gallery is at ground level, facing George Street.

Fun fact: When the building was first constructed in 1884 it was on the waterfront. Notice how far back from the water’s edge it is today.

ASN Co Building, 1-5 Hickson Road, The Rocks

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Lucky pig - Il Porcellino

Australia’s first hospital dates back to 1788 (at this address since 1811) and was associated with Florence Nightingale and Lucy Osburn. It was home to the first nursing school in Australia – but despite all this, most people come here to be photographed rubbing a pig’s snout for luck!

Il Porcellino is actually a wild boar, a very fine bronze replica of a 500-year-old one unearthed in Rome.

The boar was presented to the hospital in l968 by the Marchessa Clarissa Torrigiani in memory of her father and brother – Dr Thomas Fiaschi who died in 1928, and Dr Piero Fiaschi who died in 1948, both former renowned surgeons at the hospital.

Thomas Fiaschi was born in 1853 of Anglo-Italian parentage. He trained as a doctor before coming to Australia. As well as being an enthusiastic military surgeon, he owned a vineyard in Windsor and dispensed products from his own cellars in what is now Australia Square. In 1902 he was Honorary Surgeon to the Governor General and, in 1909 ,became Chairman of Sydney Hospital Board of Medical Studies.

Fun fact: It is said the Marchessa saved for seven years to buy Il Porcellino to present to the hospital. Donated coins go to hospital projects.

Sydney Hospital & Sydney Eye Hospital, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney (next to Parliament House), www.sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au/sydhosp/IlPorcellino.asp

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Regal reminders

She was queen for over 63 years, much of that time while the British colonies of Australia were coming of age.

A whole Australian state was named for her and another mentions her role, but Sydney showed allegiance too. Look for streets, avenues and places named for her (a column of them in the Sydney street directory). Her face appears chiselled into the facades of many buildings, or else her initials - VR (Victoria Regina).

The gracious Queen Victoria Building (QVB) is a glorious tribute. Outside this, a large bronze statue depicts her, seated, high above the passing workers and shoppers. At ground level behind her is her favourite dog, Islay, with his wishing well to gather funds for deaf and blind children.

Queen Victoria also appears standing on a granite pedestal at the end of Macquarie Street near the entrance to Hyde Park. Her beloved consort Prince Albert gazes towards her from across the road while she imperiously seems to focus on the State Parliament building. Or is it the harbour?

Fun Fact: The QVB statue stood outside Leinster House, Dublin, Ireland (The Seat of The Irish Parliament) until 1947 and re-erected in Sydney in 1987. An Irish parliamentarian was quoted in 1974 as saying: ‘I think we all agree it is one of the most ugly statues of that royal lady’. 

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Is this Sydney's oldest pub?

Several pubs in The Rocks area claim to be the oldest including The Lord Nelson, established in 1841, even though its name has changed over the years.

You be the judge - here are the facts. The license was granted to Richard Phillips on 29th June 1831 for the Shipwright Arms on the north-east corner of Kent and Argyle streets. His clientele were mainly seafarers so in their honour he renamed it The Sailor's Return.

In time this became the Quarryman's Arms then, in 1841, The Lord Nelson which, helped by an 1852 photograph, has now been restored to its former grandeur. On the walls you will see many interesting artefacts including an original Times newspaper of 7th November 1805 with details of the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson's death. A copy of the hotel's first licence, and other interesting pieces helps give the hotel its authentic 1800s atmosphere. 

Fun fact: As beer is brewed on the premises, this is one of Sydney’s few true brasseries.

The Lord Nelson Hotel, 19 Kent Street, The Rocks, www.lordnelsonbrewery.com/

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Observing the city's skies

Mariners have an affinity with stars for navigation, and so the early white colonists quickly established an observatory, one at Sydney Cove in 1788, and another at Parramatta, still visible in Parramatta Park.

At 40 metres above sea level at that time the highest point in Sydney, the site for the Sydney Observatory, selected in 1856, was originally only intended as a place to build a time-ball tower. When the ball dropped at 1pm daily, the cannon at Fort Denison was also fired, telling the time for both residents and shipping.

Sydney Observatory, designed in the popular Italianate Villa style, had two telescope rooms and accommodation for the astronomer, was built in 1859 next to the Signal Station, which is also worth visiting. You can see the flags over it from the southern approach to the Bridge, but you’ll need to visit to learn what they all mean.

Today the Observatory grounds are a lovely place to relax and often the site for wedding photos because of the stunning backdrop of harbour and bridge.

No bookings are needed for Space Theatre, but they’re essential for night viewing. Name a star if you wish.

Fun fact: Sydney’s first 'weather forecast' was issued from the Observatory in mid-1858.

Sydney Observatory, Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, www.sydneyobservatory.com.au

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The Rocks rocks

Lower George Street, at the foot of The Rocks, became Sydney's first Chinatown. And the culture of drinking, pubs, gambling and sport and ensuing crime continues.

Today The Rocks has evolved into an atmospheric area, redolent with history, (including popular ghost tours http://www.ghosttours.com.au/) and filled with museums, hotels such as The Orient http://www.orienthotel.com.au/ (established 1844), boutiques , restaurants and galleries.

Fun fact: Mary Reiby, a convict who arrived in 1791 made a fortune in trade and shipping, and built fine houses. Watch for her name around the city.

The Rocks, Sydney,

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The mechanics of art

Raise a glass to the past at this hotel, next-door to Hilton Sydney, with original architecture dating back to 1836 when it was built. It served as The Sydney Mechanics  School of Arts and until 1988, but this distinctive two-storey building with a Palladian facade and late Georgian features has continuously evolved with Sydney. Its painted sign is still visible from the shopping arcade.

Originally  housing a theatre, lecture room, museum and library, reflecting the educational aims of the School of Arts, since 1987 it has become a hotel, now with four bars and a restaurant. Many of the original features of the reading rooms, library and halls, as well as the Independent Chapel, are retained in the new hotel.

In 1999 the building was added to the State Heritage Register.

Fun fact: Sydney Technical College operated here until its move to Ultimo in 1891.

Arthouse Hotel, 275 Pitt St, Sydney, www.thearthousehotel.com.au

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Cats, maps and history

Where to begin with a library – or rather TWO libraries – containing a rough estimate of around five million items in books, film, manuscripts, and digital, valued at $2.1 billion?

The library itself began in 1826 as the Australian Subscription Library. After several moves, and greatly in debt in 1869, the NSW government created the Sydney Free Public Library with 20,000 volumes. Renamed in 1895 as the Public Library of New South Wales it became the State Library of NSW in 1975.

The buildings evolved wing by wing. The Mitchell Wing was completed in 1910, the Dixson in 1929, and the final masterpiece, the main building with its imposing portico and vestibule facing the Botanic Gardens, was ready in June 1942.

Even if you don’t turn a page, do look at the carved doors and take a moment to get the feel of the lofty reading room lined with books reaching to the ceiling.

A prize library acquisition is Abel Tasman’s 17th-century hand-drawn map of Australia as he believed it to be. As the 1644 version is too fragile to be on public display, it is replicated in marble in the main vestibule.

Fun fact: Matthew Flinders’ trusty feline companion, Trim, accompanied him around Australia on the Investigator in 1801. Look for his statue and plaque on the windowsill outside, behind where Flinders stands in the library. The Library’s cafe is called Cafe Trim.

State Library of NSW and Mitchell Library, Macquarie Street, Sydney, www.sl.nsw.gov.au/

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Mrs Macquarie was not a lady

Mrs Macquarie, Governor Macquarie's wife Elizabeth, loved to gaze over Sydney Harbour watching for ships from Great Britain sailing into the harbour. In 1810 her husband had an exposed sandstone rock, on the eastern or ocean side of the point, hand-carved by convicts into the shape of a bench for her.  

Sometimes called Lady Macquaries Chair, it is correctly MRS Macquaries chair, as her title was not ‘Lady’.

The Domain is part of the tract of land set aside as Sydney’s first common. It overlooks Farm Cove, named for the farm established by Governor Phillip six months after the arrival of the First Fleet.

Fun fact: In the 1850s, cricket matches moved from Hyde Park to the Domain which was still used for  cattle grazing. Removing cow pats from the field was a pre-match chore.

Mrs Macquaries Chair & The Domain, The Domain, Sydney

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Collecting Australia

For the 18th-century white explorers the new land of Australia was filled with unique and amazing plants and animals.

One said ‘no country has proved richer than Australia in every branch of natural history’.

In 1827 the formation of a 'Publick Museum at New South Wales' was agreed, although the location of the premises took longer to decide. There were several addresses. Finally, a building on the current site was completed in 1849  and opened in May 1857.

The Museum came to be recognised as a truly 'scientific' establishment but the Garden Palace fire of 1882 saw the tragic loss of much of the its ethnographic collection.

The foyer features a dinosaur skeleton and the street facade has the zany appearance of a massive crocodile weaving in and out the windows.

Tragic fact: The Museum's ill-fated first custodian was zoologist William Holmes who unfortunately shot and killed himself while collecting birds for the museum at Moreton Bay, Queensland in 1831. 

Australian Museum, 6 College Street Sydney, http://australianmuseum.net.au/

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Home of NSW's first governors

A National Trust of Australia (NSW) property, built in 1799-1816, this Georgian building was home and office of the first ten governors of NSW.

It is the oldest surviving public building in Australia. Enter the world of Gov. Lachlan and Mrs Elizabeth Macquarie’s household and work life when you tour the rooms of colonial administration and immerse yourself in Regency taste and style.

Then explore the nation’s premier early colonial furniture collection and reflect on the social history surrounding other occupants and use of the house.

Old Government House is set above the Parramatta River in the 80ha Parramatta Park.

Fun fact: From 1910 to 1965 the building became a boarding school for Kings School.

Old Government House Parramatta, Parramatta Park, Parramatta, www.nationaltrust.com.au/placestovisit/ogh/

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Temple tales

It is believed at least eight Jewish convicts came with the First Fleet and several hundred others in the early years of the colony. Because initially there were only Church of England services, Jews were not able to observe their religious beliefs until the early 1820s when more Jewish free settlers arrived.

The first Jewish Congregation was formed in 1831, meeting in rooms above 'Mr Rowell's shop in George Street' until 1837. The first minister, Reverend Michael Rose, arrived in 1835.

The foundation stone for the Great Synagogue was laid in 1875. The building’s grand Byzantine-style design with some Gothic influences featured an ornate entrance on Elizabeth Street. Its richly elaborate interiors were greatly admired on completion in 1878.

The Synagogue and AM Rosenblum Jewish Museum has an outstanding collection of Jewish artefacts including textiles, ritual silver and paintings and exhibitions change periodically. Tours http://www.greatsynagogue.org.au/VisitorInformation/OurCollection.aspx are available.

Fun fact: The museum has a magnificent cedar Ark from the York Street Synagogue, predecessor of The Great.

The Great Synagogue, 166 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, www.greatsynagogue.org.au/

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Strand from the past

Arcades have long been elegant places for shopping in European cities, so it’s no surprise that Victorian-era Sydney with upmarket pretensions wanted to become part of this fashionable scene.

The fifth and last (and some say the best) of Sydney’s arcades, Strand Arcade opened in 1892, an ambitious project, 340 feet long, three storeys high, linking Pitt and George Streets.

What’s more it was climate-friendly, the first building to try to deal with the harsh sunshine by providing tinted glass on the roof.

The facade was elegant and graceful and the interior still retains floor tiles, iron railings and brackets, cedar staircases, chandeliers and two hydraulic lifts. Such modernity at the time!

Colourful characters, the rich and famous all came here to shop at expensive boutiques or for coffee. Despite a devastating fire in 1976, after the restoration in 1977, the glory remains.

Fun fact: The arcade was named after London’s smartest street linking the city of London with Westminster.

Strand Arcade, 412-414 George St, Sydney, www.strandarcade.com.au/About-Strand

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Riches to rags to riches

More concerned with fine wool than wining and dining, the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, was built by the Sydney Maritime Trust between between 1911 and 1915. The state’s expanding wool, wheat and import trade lasted until the 1930s depression.

After the Second World War the 400-metre wharf ceased cargo handling, then became a passenger terminal until Circular Quay Passenger Terminal was completed. By the 1980s it lay derelict and there were plans to demolish it.

After extensive refurbishment in the 1990s, the heritage-listed wharf’s use changed again to restaurants, apartments and a hotel.

Because of its historic importance, rooms in the hotel and the restaurants retain the integrity of the building’s structure. In hotel's entrance and the bar, the building’s original use is still evident. Call it industrial-chic if you like.

Fun fact: Want to know how to spell this long name. Think of it like this: sheep-toilet-cow-toilet (wool-loo-moo-loo)!

Street parking.

Bus transport

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The ever-changing city

From strong and solid Sydney sandstone buildings in English-style architecture...

...to a modern city of glass and steel and height.

This is the history of Sydney.

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