Melbourne, Australia: St. Patrick's Cathedral

You probably know that "modern" Australia was established by the English in the late 1700s. Great Britain is known as the home of the Anglican church. So it's easy to wonder how the biggest church (in size) in Melbourne is a Catholic cathedral.

It turns out that eventually Melbourne had a good-sized Catholic community by the 1850s, and it was determined that a new church for it was in order. Since most of that part of the population was Irish, St. Patrick was honored with the name. Only two huge churches were built in the world during the 19th century, and they both have the same name. The other was in New York City. This facility was consecrated in 1897. 

Late in the 1900s, it was decided that the place needed to be fixed up a bit, so a large restoration project was started. It was finished in 1997, just in time for the 100th anniversary celebration. They didn't add anything to the area, sticking to keeping things ready for the next century.