Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Queen Victoria
Building 2
455 George St. Map 1 B5. Tel 9264
9209. @ George St routes.
# 9am-6pm Mon-Wed, 9am-9pm
Thu, 9am-6pm Fri & Sat, 11am-5pm
Sun & public hols. 6 7 8 See
Shops and Markets pp198 and 200.
stone from Blarney Castle, Ire-
land and a sculpture of Islay,
beloved dog of Queen Victoria.
In 1983, a worldwide search
began for a statue of the queen
herself. One was finally found
in the village of Daingean,
Republic of Ireland, where it
had lain forgotten since its
removal from the front of the
Irish Parliament in 1947.
Fully restored, the Queen
Victoria Statue stands near the
wishing well. Inside the QVB,
suspended from the ceiling, is
the Royal Clock. Weighing
more than 1 tonne and over
5 m (17 ft) tall, the clock
was designed by Neil
Glasser in 1982. The
upper structure
features part of
Balmoral Castle
above a copy of
the four dials of
Big Ben. At one
minute to every
hour, a fanfare is
played and there
follows a parade depicting six
scenes from the lives of various
kings and queens of England.
French Designer Pierre
Cardin called the Queen
Victoria Building “the most
beautiful shopping centre in
the world”. Yet this spacious
and ornate Romanesque
building, better known as the
QVB, began life as the
Sydney produce market.
The dust, flies, grime
and shouts as horses
struggled with heavy
loads on the
slippery ramps are
now difficult to
imagine. Comp-
leted to the
design of City
Architect George
McRae in 1898, the dominant
features are the central dome,
sheathed in copper, as are the
20 smaller domes, and the
glass barrel vault roof which
lets in a flood of natural light.
The market closed at the end
of World War I and the build-
ing fell into disrepair. It had
various roles during this time,
including that of City Library.
By the 1950s, after extensive
remodelling and neglect, it was
threatened with demolition.
Refurbished at a cost of over
$75 million, the QVB reopened
in 1986 as today's grand shop-
ping gallery, housing over 190
shops and boutiques on four
levels. At the Town Hall end
a wishing well incorporates a
Entrance to the Marble Bar
The Marble Bar 1
488 George St. Map 1 B5. Tel 9265
6026. @ George St routes. # 3pm-
11pm Mon-Wed, 3pm-midnight
Thu, 3pm-2am Fri, 5pm-2am Sat.
¢ public hols. 6 See Restaurants,
Cafés and Pubs p197.
Roof detail, Queen
Victoria Building
The Marble Bar, originally
part of George Adams'
Tattersalls Hotel built in 1893,
is an inspired link with the
Sydney of an earlier era. The
bar, whose rich and decadent
Italian Renaissance style had
made it a local institution, was
dismantled before the demoli-
tion of the hotel in 1969. Its
colonnade entrance, fireplaces
and counters were re-erected
in the Sydney Hilton basement
and reopened in 1973.
During the week, the
bar attracts a broad range of
city workers for after-work
drinks. On Fridays and at
weekends if a band is
playing, the bar bustles with
a younger crowd who come
to hear the mostly jazz and
rhythm and blues music.
State Theatre 3
49 Market St. Map 1 B5.
Tel 9373 6862. @ George St routes.
Box office # 9am- 5:30pm
Mon-Fri. ¢ Good Fri, 25 Dec. 7
8 bookings essential.
www .statetheatre.com.au.
When it opened in 1929, this
picture palace was hailed as
the finest that local crafts-
manship could achieve. The
State Theatre is one of the
best examples in Australia of
the architectural fantasies used
to entice people to the movies.
Its Cinema Baroque style is
evident right from the Gothic
foyer, with its vaulted ceiling,
mosaic floor, richly decorated
marble columns and statues.
Inside the brass and bronze
doors, the auditorium, which
seats over 2,000 people, is lit
by a 20,000-piece chandelier.
The Wurlitzer organ (currently
under repair) rises from below
stage just before performances.
Now one of Sydney's premier
concert and theatre venues, it
is also the main base for the
Sydney Film Festival, held in
June of each year (see p51).
The ornately decorated Gothic foyer of the State Theatre
 
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