As you continue your walk, look to your right. You should spot a towering structure with a soaring spire that looks like something straight out of a medieval fairy tale - that's the magnificent Sacred Heart Cathedral. The building's intricate stone façade, flanked by multiple tall, narrow towers, is sure to catch your eye. The cathedral stands impressively with its Gothic Revival style and large stained glass windows.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, is an Australian marvel! It serves as the Roman Catholic cathedral church of the Diocese of Sandhurst and is the seat of Bishop Shane Mackinlay. Designed in the Gothic Revival style in 1895 by the architectural firm Reed, Barnes and Tappin, this splendid structure was listed on the Victorian Heritage Register on September 4, 1997.
The cathedral is one of Australia’s largest churches and the third tallest after Melbourne’s St Patrick's Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral. For a provincial city, it’s quite grand, thanks to the generous estate of Henry Backhaus, a German who was the first Catholic priest on the Bendigo goldfields. Backhaus was a financial wizard, encouraging his goldmining parishioners to contribute to the church, which eventually allowed for this cathedral’s construction.
The initial construction phase saw a large pipe organ from Bishop & Son of London installed in 1905. After quite a long break, work resumed in 1954 and the cathedral was finally completed in 1977. The later stages, designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon, included a lighter steel-framed spire.
Standing at 75 meters (246 feet) long, with a ceiling height of 24 meters (79 feet), the main spire reaches an impressive 87 meters (285 feet) into the sky. And, if you’re here on the last weekend of October, you might witness the annual Christus Rex Pilgrimage, a 90-kilometer walk that concludes with a Solemn Mass at this very cathedral. Quite an awe-inspiring sight, wouldn't you say?
