The Sydney Town Hall sits on a foundation of crushed sandstone, characterized by a dizzying array of columns, pilasters, and a massive clock tower that anchors the city intersection. It stands on the former site of an old cemetery, where…
Victorian Sydney Arcades
This walk connects Sydney's most opulent 19th-century shopping arcades and civic landmarks to show off the grand design of the city's gilded age.
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1. Sydney Town Hall
2. Hong Kong House - Former "Gresham Hotel"
The Victorian Filigree ironwork wrapping the corner of the building at the intersection of Market and George Streets distinguishes this structure from its neighbors. Known as Hong Kong House, the building began its life as the Gresham…
3. Queen Victoria Building
The Queen Victoria Building fills an entire city block with its massive copper domes and Romanesque arches. George McRae designed the structure in the eighteen nineties, intended as a grand marketplace for the city. During the nineteen…
4. Marble Bar
The Marble Bar sits beneath the Queen Victoria Building, identifiable by its ornate, arched entrance of polished red marble and heavy brass. George Adams, the man behind Tattersalls lottery, commissioned the room in eighteen ninety-three…
5. The Strand Arcade
The Strand Arcade features a Victorian-style gallery with three levels of dark timber balconies and a glass roof that floods the interior with daylight. It opened in eighteen ninety-two as a luxury shopping destination designed by…
6. Australia Post - Sydney GPO
The Sydney General Post Office features a long, sandstone colonnade that lines the southern edge of Martin Place. Architect James Barnet designed this massive structure in two stages during the eighteen seventies and eighties, pulling…