St Mary's Cathedral in ,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia, is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, presently

Julian Porteous Julian Charles Porteous (born 5 June 1949) was the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania until his resignation in June 2024, which was accepted by the Holy See 12 July 2024, rendering the Archdiocese of Hobart sede vacante. He is currently ...

. The cathedral's origins can be traced back to 1822 when the first permanent Tasmanian priest Philip Conolly (1786–1839) constructed a temporary wooden chapel near the present cathedral site and dedicated to God, under the invocation of St. Virgilius, an "Irish Saint".

Location and features

St Mary's Cathedral is located in Harrington Street, Hobart, and is place of worship for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart. St Mary's College is located next to the cathedral. The college celebrates the Catholic

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obse ...

by attending Mass.

History

The first cathedral foundation stone was laid in 1860 to a design by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney. Following a successful career in ...

, a student of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

. The cathedral was consecrated in 1866. The cathedral was built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architectural style. Structural problems caused by faulty construction resulted in the cathedral being largely dismantled and re-constructed to a new design based on Wardell's initial plans, by

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

architect Henry Hunter. He laid the new foundation stone in 1878. A Norman-era

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

, with connections to Pugin is believed to have been installed in St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart. A historian noted that 'the detail repertoire of this font is characteristic of transitional work of roughly the period 1170 to 1200.' in

Organ

The first organ at St Mary's Cathedral was moved to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, . The current organ was built in 1893 by Fincham & Hobday for the

International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art The International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art was a World's fair held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1886. Summary The exhibition was held in The Meadows (park), The Meadows. It was opened on 6 May by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarenc ...

, Queen's Domain, Hobart of 1894 where the organ was awarded the first prize. This organ was installed in the cathedral in June 1895 in its present location. Subsequent rebuilds and renovations of the organ occurred in 1934 by Hill, Norman & Beard; in 1957 by Keith Davis; in 1966 by George Fincham & Sons; and in 2007–2009 by Wakeley Pipe Organs, when minor additions were made.

Stained glass windows

Dominated by the exquisite Hardman Studio window in the style of a fourteenth century Gothic window; the five lancets depict pivotal scenes from the Gospels and the tracery at the top of the window details heavenly images, from 1869. The rose window in the west end of the cathedral (1981), the Pentecost window (1989), and the Heroic and Saintly Women (1995) are other windows specific to the cathedral.

References

External links