Parliament House

The Parliament House in Sydney is partially comprised of the city's oldest public building and is rich in history

Anyone with an interest in historic and architecturally significant buildings will definitely want to visit this famous Sydney landmark located on Macquarie Street.

Parliament House is home to the Parliament of New South Wales. It is a two storey Georgian style building with a colonnaded veranda. The original portion is Sydney's oldest public building. Neo-classic additions were subsequently added to both sides to serve as parliamentary chambers.

The oldest part of the building was originally the northern wing of the hospital. It was built under the direction of Governor Macquarie using convict labour and funding from the importing of rum, thus it was nicknamed the 'Rum Hospital'. First occupied by the Chief Surgeon, it was later utilized for law courts and then in 1829 the Legislative Council began to hold meetings on the lower floor. Over time, the needs of the expanding parliament took over the building and required further additions, the latest occurring in 1970.

A major restoration project of the older portions began in 1974. The project was completed in 1985 with a complete restoration of the parliamentary chambers to appear as close as possible to what they were like in 1892.

Cost: Free

Hours: You can view the outside at anytime, however public tours are only held on the first Thursday of each month at 1pm. There is no charge for these. Parliament House is also open to the public on Australia Day - January 26th.

Website: Parliament House

Address: Parliament of New South Wales, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney

Nearby attractions: Hyde Park, Hyde Park Barracks, Royal Botanic Gardens, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Museum of Sydney

Getting There on Transit
Monorail / Train / Bus	Station	Walking Time
Monorail	City Centre Station	12 minutes
Train or Ferry	Martin Place or Circular Quay Station	1 or 12 minutes
By Monorail: exit at City Centre Station and go left (north) on Pitt Street then right on Martin Place then left on Macquarie Street (12 minutes) By Train: From Martin Place Station exit to the east and head left (north) on Macquarie Street (3 minutes) or from Circular Quay proceed west on Alfred Street then left on Albert Street and right on Macquarie Street (6 minutes). View TourbyTransit.com - Sydney Attractions in a larger map

Parliament House in Sydneycc licensed photo shared by J Bar via Wikipedia