St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide

St Francis Xavier's Cathedral in Adelaide, South Australia is the Roman Catholic cathedral in that city. It is classified as being a Gothic Revival building in the Early English style. The tower stands 36 m high and is 56.5 m lengthwise and 29.5 m horizontally. The foundation stone was laid in 1856, and construction of the tower began in 1887. However, it was not completed until 1996.

In 1838, two years after the proclamation of South Australia, an advertisement was put up to organise religious meetings for South Australian Catholics. The first mass was held in a house on East Terrace in 1840. In 1845, a Catholic Primary School was set up, and used as the religious centre for Catholics, until the foundation stone for a cathedral was laid in 1851 for a design by Richard Lambeth. However, with a gold rush in Victoria, Lambeth left along with many of the population, leaving no plans, and with the community in economic depression.

The original foundation stone was put in place on March 17, 1856 by the Vicar General Father Michael Ryan, with the first part of the cathedral being dedicated on July 11, 1858. It was first extended when construction began at the southern end of the Cathedral, including the sanctuary, Side Chapel, Lady Chapel and Sacristy in January 1859. Construction of the first extension finished the following year in November 1860. With further growth in the population of Adelaide, another extension was required to...
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