Located opposite Hyde Park is Sydney's Great Synagogue - Beth Ysrael. Like St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral on the other side of Hyde Park, it's a beautiful marriage of sandstone and wrought iron outside.
Back in the 1970s my Mum worked as the office administrator here and I visited a few times. I haven't been in since, but I should try to do the tour one day.
It was consecrated in March 1878, and at that time stood out as a landmark. Unfortunately it is rather hemmed in by other buildings now (top photo).
(The photo at left was originally published on this blog on 25 June 2006.)
The wrought iron work is just superb. As you said earlier, the ironwork and the sandstone are so perfect together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for kind comment on Monte Carlo today. Yes, isn't it hard to photograph. so your comment made my day. It was the best of a bad bunch and as for photographing a carousel when it's moving - ...
Swimming pool is now an ice rink. I thought of you!
That was amazing. Thanks for the shot! (The iron work IS spectacular.)
ReplyDeleteThat contrast between those arches and the gates is lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame the planners don't think of the bigger picture and how new buildings affect the older ones.
That ironwork! These are such beautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteI love the roofline of that building (and the ironwork) but I've never been able to get a good shot - always the wrong light. I did the tour a few years ago at Sydney Open - fascinating. Its beautiful inside as well.
ReplyDeleteBorn and raised in Melbourne, but I have some legitimacy in Sydney.. my beloved was educated there :)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow I wrote a very brief architectural history of the Great Synagogue but I didn't have a detailed photo of the ironwork. Thus the link to your blog. Many thanks
Hels
Art and Architecture, mainly