16 Most Beautiful and Awe-Inspiring Churches and Cathedrals in Australia

When you think of Australia, there’s a good chance you imagine the remote Outback, bouncing kangaroos, cute koalas, or crocodile hunting. However, that’s only part of what this beautiful country has to offer. In addition to its vast array of incredible wildlife and epic adventures, Australia is also home to many bustling cities and stunning architectural wonders, including numerous churches and cathedrals. Just imagine towering spires reaching toward the sky, stained glass windows sparkling in the sunlight, and a quiet peace penetrating deep into your soul. Discover the most beautiful and awe-inspiring churches and cathedrals in Australia!

1. St. Mary’s Cathedral (Sydney)

The oldest cathedral in Sydney is the Cathedral and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians — or simply, St. Mary’s Cathedral. Designed by the architect William Wardell, the cathedral is a combination of many different elements from the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival style and the Geometric Decorated Gothic style. St. Mary’s Cathedral has beautiful, ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and intricate tracery decorating its many windows. In addition, its incredible twin spires soar 245 feet into the sky! Inspired by the famous Notre Dame de Paris, St. Mary’s Cathedral also has an entrance with three large portals and an impressive rose window.  

St. Mary’s Cathedral is also the longest church in Australia! Traditionally, architects design Catholic cathedrals with an east-west orientation. However, due to the impressive length of St. Mary’s Cathedral — over 350 feet! — it is actually built in a north-south orientation. 

2. St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Melbourne)

The largest and most beautiful cathedral in Melbourne is St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Eastern Hill. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is slightly shorter than St. Mary’s, measuring only 340 feet long. However, it is the tallest church in Australia, its sandstone and bluestone walls measuring over 344 feet high. Also designed by the architect William Wardell, St. Patrick’s Cathedral has a distinctly Gothic Revival Style, specifically the Geometric Decorated Gothic. 

The cathedral has beautiful and intricate tracery on its windows, pointed arches, and ribbed vaults. It also has three tall spires: one soaring up 344 feet up, and two smaller ones 203 feet tall. In addition, St. Patrick’s Cathedral has many stunning stained-glass windows lining its walls and a large rose window on the west front of the church. 

3. St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral (Adelaide)

This beautiful cathedral in Adelaide, Australia, has a unique early English Style of the Gothic Revival. Although it opened for worship in 1858, the cathedral was incomplete. In fact, it wasn’t officially finished until 1996! St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral consists of elegant sandstone with pointed arches, an impressive high ceiling, intricate carvings, and beautiful marble pillars. 

Designed by Peter Paul Pugin, St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Australia, named for the country’s patron saint. Its beautifully carved octagonal pulpit and canopy are made from blackwood at an impressive size of 20 feet tall. The pulpit was dedicated to the Catholic soldiers of South Australia who died during the Great War. In addition, the altar in the Lady Chapel is equally beautiful, made with Carrara marble from Italy and decorated with simulated lapis lazuli. 

4. Albert Street Uniting Church (Brisbane)

The Albert Street Uniting Church was built from 1888 to 1889 on Albert Street in Brisbane City, Queensland. Designed by George Henry Male Addison, the church has beautiful red brick exteriors trimmed with stunning white Oamaru limestone from New Zealand. Its Victorian Gothic Revival style includes many pointed arches and decorations, as well as one large white spire. 

While the church’s exterior is certainly breathtaking, the interior is just as impressive. The floor in the main area or nave slopes downward toward the pulpit at the other end, which is raised high above the floor. A massive pipe organ proudly stands behind the large pulpit, painted with many beautiful designs. The interior also incorporates exquisitely carved wood, strong cast iron columns, and decorated galleries. 

5. St. John’s Cathedral (Brisbane)

Another beautiful and awe-inspiring cathedral in Australia is St. John’s Cathedral. Designed in the Gothic Revival Style, it also has a French Gothic flair. John Loughborough Pearson created the cathedral’s initial designs, but unfortunately, he died before they had begun building. So, the cathedral was ultimately designed and created over nearly 100 years of collaboration between architects, stonemasons, and clergy. In fact, they did not fully complete St. John’s Cathedral until 2009!

The exterior walls of St. John’s Cathedral are beautiful pink, mauve, and brown volcanic Brisbane tuff stone. Each piece of stone is randomly arranged for a unique aesthetic quality. The cathedral’s interior consists mainly of sandstone or Helidon freestone. The foundations and the base of the columns are granite and basalt. The window dressings, doorways, and arcading all use a different type of sandstone from Pyrmont, New South Wales. The multidimensional combination of different types of stone creates a visually striking and harmonious blend of colors and textures, showcasing the beauty and diversity of Australia’s natural resources.

6. St. Patrick’s Basilica (Fremantle)

The foundation stone of St. Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle, Western Australia, was laid in 1898 on St. Patrick’s Day. This beautiful cathedral in Australia is of the Gothic Revival style, designed by Michael Cavanagh. It has a large arched facade, flying buttresses, large towers and spires, and a beautiful central nave with stunning stained-glass windows. 

However, one of its most beautiful features is the church’s amazing pipe organs. The first organ at St. Patrick’s Basilica was a 2-manual mechanical organ in 1898. Over the years, the organ was dismantled and rebuilt several times. New modernized parts were added, while many of the pipes and chests from the original were lovingly restored. Today, pieces of that original organ make up the grand 4-manual organ in the west gallery of the transept and an interconnected 2-manual organ in the south transept. The grand organ is one of the biggest and best church organs and all of Australia! 

7. St. Paul’s Cathedral (Melbourne)

This beautiful Anglican cathedral is located in the center of Melbourne, Australia. Designed by the architect William Butterfield, the cathedral was completed in 1891. However, its prominent Sydney sandstone spires were added on later from 1926 to 1932. They are a different color from the rest of the building and stand out prominently against the skyline. 

The unique style of St. Paul’s Cathedral comes from the Gothic Revival, with elements from the early English Gothic and the Decorated Gothic. The interior walls use several different kinds of stones, giving the space a warm color. Butterfield used sandstone from the Barrabool Hills, Waurn Ponds limestone, stripes of Victorian bluestone, marble from Devonshire, alabaster, Venetian glass mosaics, and special encaustic tiles imported from England. The artistic design of all of the fabulous colors and intricate details make St. Paul’s Cathedral one of the most beautiful in all of Australia!

8. St. Mary of the Angels Basilica (Victoria)

Made with stunning Lethbridge bluestone and Barrabool sandstone details, St. Mary of the Angels Basilica is one of the most beautiful churches in Australia. In 2004, this incredible church, over 150 years old, received Vatican approval to join the ranks of the elite churches known as basilicas. 

Located in Geelong, St. Mary of the Angels Basilica is the tallest building in the city, measuring 210 feet. This stunning building has the tallest bluestone spire in all of Australia, reaching up 150 feet into the sky with an 8-foot-tall phosphor bronze cross at the very top. It is a Gothic Revival style with a long nave or central area, colorful stained-glass windows, pointed arches, and many other ornate decorations. 

9. Sacred Heart Cathedral (Townsville)

Also known as the Church of the Sacred Heart, the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Queensland is another beautiful and awe-inspiring church in Australia. Dennis Kelleher built this beautiful cathedral on Castle Hill in Townsville City, from 1896 to 1902. Modeled after a Roman basilica, it has lofty ceilings and beautiful timber arches in the nave, as well as many stunning Gothic windows. 

The Sacred Heart Cathedral also has two large towers and intricately designed windows. Its exterior walls use stunning red bricks and contrasting white cement decorations and moldings. The unique roof is wavy and shiny corrugated iron, adding texture and dimension to this beautiful building.

10. St. George’s Cathedral (Perth)

Designed by Edmund Blacket, St. George’s Cathedral in Western Australia’s city of Perth was built from 1879 to 1888. It is a beautiful example of the Victorian Gothic Revival style. It has high vaulted ceilings, a long nave in the center, a stunning rose window, and an impressive spire that reaches 169 feet into the sky. St George’s Cathedral used local materials, including Western Australian jarrah wood, brick, and Rottnest Island limestone. 

The cathedral’s most stunning features, however, are inside the building. The vaulted ceiling of the central nave or main area of the building uses rich and elegant wood timbers, supported by intricately carved hammerbeams. The rose-colored brick walls accentuate the warm tones of the wood, giving the interior a warm yet bright atmosphere. At one end of the long central nave, an elegant pipe organ sits just below a large rose window with colorful stained glass. The organ in St. George’s Cathedral is the largest in Western Australia, encased in beautiful Tasmanian oak. 

11. Christ Church Cathedral (Newcastle)

The Cathedral Church of Christ the King, or Christ Church Cathedral, is another beautiful church in Australia, located in Newcastle, New South Wales. There were many unexpected complications and delays while building the Christ Church Cathedral, which ultimately took nearly 100 years to complete! 

The cathedral was built in three stages by three different architects. John Horbury Hunt completed the first stage. He was greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, particularly asymmetry and natural materials like brick and timber. This first stage, completed in 1834, included the transepts, choir, and crossing. The architect Edmund Blacket completed the second stage in 1840, including the west towers and the nave. Thomas Rowe completed the third and final stage, in 1864. including the spires. Christ Church Cathedral is a unique combination of the Gothic Revival with elements from the Baroque and Renaissance styles. 

12. St. John’s Church (Parramatta)

Located in New South Wales, St. John’s Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Australia. It is a beautiful example of Georgian architecture. The cathedral’s sandstone exterior has a symmetrical design, with pyramidal twin spires and large windows that let in lots of light. A beautiful landscape of well-established trees, lawns, hedges, and colorful flower beds also surrounded St. John’s Church.

The classical interior of the church features a Victorian Romanesque style, with rounded arches and windows and plain classical pillars. Inside stands a beautiful font made of totara wood with paua shell inlays, a gift from a group of Maoris in New Zealand in honor of Reverend Samuel Marsden, the first Rector of St John’s. In addition, the J.W. Walker pipe organ in the north transept came all the way from England in 1862.

13. St. Mary Star of the Sea (West Melbourne)

Completed in 1900, St. Mary Star of the Sea was designed by the architects Edgar J. Henderson and Phillip Kennedy and is one of the largest Parish churches in Australia. It is a unique mixture of both French Gothic Revival and Italianate styles, as influenced by its two separate architects. 

The church’s construction used several different materials, including Malmesbury bluestone, Mount Somers limestone, Barrabool Hills sandstone, Oamaru limestone, and polished red granite. The gorgeous columns of the church’s interior are topped with carved capitals shaped like decorative leaves, each one individually different from the next. The bottom of each column is marble and sits atop grooved Malmsbury bluestone base blocks called plinths. The walls of the nave are a lovely pink color, which contrasts beautifully with the red granite and white marble. 

14. St. Michael’s Uniting Church (Melbourne)

Dedicated in 1867, St Michael’s Uniting Church in Melbourne, Australia, was designed by the architect Joseph Reed. This beautiful church is an Italian Lombardic Romanesque style, with polychrome brickwork. This unique brickwork design uses multiple colors of bricks, making decorative patterns across the exterior walls and the nearly 200-foot-tall square bell tower. The church also features the iconic rounded arches and thick walls of the Romanesque style. 

The interior of St. Michael’s Uniting Church is also quite unique. Rather than a long central nave, it has a round theater Auditorium. It also has tiered seating pointing downwards toward the pulpit and massive pipe organ. This allows all members to both see and hear the speaker.

15. Sacred Heart Cathedral (Bendigo)

The architect William Tappan designed the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo, Victoria. It is one of Australia’s largest churches, measuring 246 feet long. Its ceiling is 78 feet tall, and the main spire is 285 feet tall. Although they broke ground for the cathedral in 1897, it was not completed until 1977 due to the Great War and its aftermath. 

The beautiful Sacred Heart Cathedral in Australia uses sandstone, bluestone, and granite. It has several large turrets or towers, stained glass windows, and beautiful marble pillars imported from Italy. Inside, the soaring ceiling of the large central nave has a beautifully carved hammerbeam roof and colorful stained-glass windows. 

16. Saints Mary & Joseph Cathedral

Built in 1912, the Saints Mary & Joseph Cathedral is an impressive Federation Gothic Revival building in Armidale. The Armidale blue bricks of the cathedral’s exterior give it a stunningly dark color, accented beautifully with a lighter-colored trim. In many ways, the Saints Mary & Joseph Cathedral has a rather simple style. However, if you look closer you will be amazed by all the incredible details. On the eastern facade or front of the cathedral, for example, there are some truly impressive brick designs. The bricks here are arranged in a special pattern called Flemish Bond work, which gives them a beautiful three-dimensional flourish.

In addition, the interior has many beautiful stained-glass windows, which create a warm and colorful atmosphere. The cathedral also has many elegant cedar pews, each made from timber from a local builder’s sawmill right here in Armidale!

Summary of the Most Beautiful and Awe-Inspiring Churches and Cathedrals in Australia

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