1876
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BROKEN BAY
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PARISH OF MARY IMMACULATE AND ST ATHANASIUS MANLY |
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FOUNDED 1876 |
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DIOCESE BROKEN BAY |
| PARISH CHURCH | HISTORIC CHURCHES | OTHER BUILDINGS |
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PARISH CHURCH OF MARY IMMACULATE AND ST ATHANASIUS |
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| PARISH | HISTORY | CHURCH |
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| PARISH |
| THE BUSY BEACHSIDE SUBURB OF MANLY WAS THE FIRST SETTLEMENT ALONG THE PENINSULA. WITH AN EFFICIENT FERRY SERVICE IT BECAME A POPULAR DAY TRIP FOR SYDNEYSIDERS AND LATER AN ATTRACTIVE RESIDENTIAL SUBURB FOR CITY WORKERS. TODAY IT IS A BUSTLING COMMUNITY CATERING FOR TOURISTS, DAYTRIPPERS AND COMMUTERS. MANLY PARISH ORIGINALLY EXTENDED FROM THE SPIT TO PALM BEACH AND SO ALL THE PENINSULA PARISHES CAN CLAIM DESCENT FROM IT. FR THERRY SERVED THE AREA AND HAD AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR IT BUT A SCARCITY OF CATHOLICS CAUSED THEIR ABANDONMENT. LATER MANLY WAS SERVED FROM ST LEONARD'S BEFORE BECOMING A PARISH IN ITS OWN RIGHT IN 1876. |
| FIRST AND SECOND CATHOLIC CHURCHES, MANLY |
| THE FIRST CHURCH AT MANLY MAY HAVE BEEN A SMALL WEATHERBOARD CHURCH BUILT IN THE LATE 1860'S. THE FATE OF THIS CHURCH IS UNKNOWN. IN 1876 MANLY BECAME A PARISH AND A NEW WEATHERBOARD CHURCH WAS BUILT NEAR THE SITE OF THE PRESENT CHURCH. THIS CHURCH LASTED UNTIL 1890. THIS CHURCH MAY WELL HAVE BEEN THE ORIGIN OF THE DOUBLE DEDICATION AS CHURCH LAW AT THE TIME REQUIRED A NEW CHURCH BUILT WHILE THE EXISTING CHURCH WAS STILL STANDING TO TAKE THE NAME OF THE EXISTING CHURCH ADDING ANY NEW DEDICATION TO IT. NEXT |
| CHURCH OF ST MARY IMMACULATE AND ST ATHANASIUS, MANLY |
| IN 1890 A LARGE PLOT OF LAND WAS PURCHASED AND IN FEBRUARY, 1891 THE FOUNDATION STONE FOR THE PRESENT CHURCH WAS LAID. AT FIRST ONLY THE NAVE ONLY WAS BUILT BUT IN 1909 THE SANCTUARY, SACRISTY, TRANSEPTS WERE ADDED TO THE NAVE. IN 1963 THE NEW EXTENSIONS TO THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH WERE COMPLETED. NEXT |
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| THE VARIOUS ADDITIONS CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN HERE. THE STONE FACED TRANSEPTS AND SHORT TOWER WERE ADDED IN 1909, WHILE THE FRONT DRUMS AND THE SIDE PORCH WERE ADDED IN 1963. THE DESIGN IS A TRADITIONAL LATIN CROSS AS IS TO BE EXPECTED FROM A CHURCH BUILT OVER 100 YEARS AGO. THE NAVE, TRANSEPTS AND SANCTUARY ARE CLEARLY DEFINED TO FIT THE OLDER LITURGY. NEXT |
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| THE MOST INTERESTING ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF THE CHURCH ARE AT THE FRONT. THE PORCH, WHICH WAS ADDED IN 1963, CONSISTS OF TWO SEMI-CIRCULAR HOLLOW DRUMS WHICH ARE USED AS ROOMS LINKED TO A CENTRAL SQUARE EXTENSION. THE ENTRANCE DOORS ARE LOCATED BETWEEN THE DRUMS AND THE EXTENSION. THE STUMPY TOWER GIVES THE IMPRESSION THAT GREATER THINGS WERE PLANNED FOR IT, BUT DURING THE 1909 ADDITIONS THE TOWER WAS LARGELY HIDDEN BY THE NARROW WESTERN TRANSEPT. TODAY IT PEAKS SHYLY ABOVE THE TRANSEPT, VISIBLE PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF ITS CROSS. NEXT | |
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THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF THE GOTHIC STYLE OF CHURCH SO POPULAR IN THE LATER 1800's. A LONG NAVE DRAWS THE VIEWER INEXORABLY TOWARDS THE DISTANT SANCTUARY AND ITS TALL LANCET WINDOWS. LIGHT FLOODS DOWN FROM THE CELESTORY CREATING A SOFT WARM GLOW INSIDE THE CHURCH. THE MAGNIFICENT ORGAN CAN BE SEEN TO THE LEFT OF THE SANCTUARY. THE CLEAR DEFINITION OF THE SANCTUARY BEYOND THE CHANCEL ARCH IS OBVIOUS AS ONE LOOKS DOWN THE NAVE. OF INTEREST ARE THE FLAT ROOFED AISLES AND THE ATTRACTIVE STONE COLUMNS MARCHING DOWN THE CHURCH. NEXT |
| THE SANCTUARY CONTAINS A MARBLE ALTAR CONSTRUCTED DURING THE LATE 60'S. IN 1988 ONE OF THE FINEST ORGANS IN NSW WAS INSTALLED IN THE NORTH TRANSEPT TO THE LEFT OF THE CHANCEL. THE SAME YEAR THE SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION WAS CONSTRUCTED. RENOVATION OF THE SANCTUARY WAS COMPLETED DURING THE 1990'S. TOP HISTORIC CHURCHES |
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| OTHER BUILDINGS | |
| MANLY SEMINARY |
MANLY SEMINARY CHAPEL |
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| ARCHDIOCESAN SEMINARY OF ST PATRICK, MANLY | |
 | THE DECISION TO BUILD AUSTRALIA'S FIRST SEMINARY IN SYDNEY WAS TAKEN BY CARDINAL MORAN AND THE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS OF ST PATRICK'S SEMINARY WERE COMPLETED IN 1889. IT WAS TO BE HOME TO NOVICE PRIESTS FOR OVER A CENTURY TILL THE DECLINING NUMBER OF CANDIDATES LED TO ITS CLOSURE. TODAY IT IS USED AS AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF TOURISM. NEXT |
| THE MAGNIFICENT GOTHIC STRUCTURE OF ST PATRICK'S IS ONE OF THE PREMIER HISTORIC BUILDINGS OF SYDNEY. SET ON THE HEADLAND OVERLOOKING THE HARBOUR AND THE CITY, THE BUILDING RISES TO A HEIGHT OF THREE STORIES AND REPRESENTED A STATEMENT OF OVERWHELMING CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE OF THE AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH BY CARDINAL MORAN. THE STRUCTURE CONSISTS OF TWO SYMMETRICAL WINGS ON EITHER SIDE OF A TALL CENTRAL TOWER. THE VIEWS AROUND THE GROUNDS AND THE DETAILS OF THE BUILDING TESTIFY TO THE LOVING CARE OF THE ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS OF THIS GLORY OF THE CHURCH. NEXT |  |
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| CARDINAL BONAVENTURE CERRETI CHAPEL, MANLY | |
 | THE SEMINARY CHAPEL, KNOWN AS THE CARDINAL BONAVENTURE CERRETI CHAPEL AFTER THE FIRST APOSTOLIC DELEGATE TO AUSTRALIA - (SEEN TO THE RIGHT IN THE PHOTO ABOVE) - IS A LOVELY GOTHIC STYLE BUILDING. THE EAST END IS RELATIVELY PLAIN BUT THE WEST END (NOT SHOWN) CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF APSIDAL CHAPELS IN THE CONTINENTAL STYLE. TODAY IT IS USED AS A FASHIONABLE WEDDING VENUE, A SAD END FOR A HOUSE DEDICATED TO THE WORSHIP OF GOD. NEXT |
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 | THE AUSTERELY BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL REFLECTS THE DEEP FAITH OF THE EARLY CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA. THE STALLS LINE THE WALLS AS IS USUAL IN CONVENTUAL CHAPELS PROVIDING A CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW TO THE FOCAL POINT OF THE ALTAR STANDING BENEATH ITS MARBLE BALDACHINO. THE SANCTUARY WAS REORDERED AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF THER NOVUS ORDO MASS IN THE LATE 60's BUT SYMPATHETICALLY SO AS NOT TO DESTROY THE MYSTIC AMBIENCE OF THE CHAPEL. TOP OTHER BUILDINGS HISTORIC CHURCHES |
