Queen Victoria Building

Queen Victoria Building

For many who work in the city of Sydney, the QVB is something they walk past, or under, or through almost every day. For tourists, it’s a pretty building with nice shops. But there’s more to this old dame than meets the eye.

After years of using her as a thoroughfare myself, I’ve recently started exploring her upper levels again, and gained a new appreciation for how beautiful the Queen Victoria Building is.So you can see where this is going. Spending a few minutes pottering around before meeting a friend for lunch all of a sudden became taking a fascinating tour of Queen Victoria Building.

It was also interesting to discover that Sydney was in a severe recession at the time the Queen Victoria Building was built back in 1893. A rather grand creation for the government to give the green light to in the down times, but there was method to the madness.

By deciding to create such a large Romanesque building the government created jobs for out of work stonemasons, stained window artists, and all sorts of tradespeople.

So they built this impressive establishment, which takes up a full city block, between George, Market, York and Druitt streets, and they turned it into a concert hall, with offices and showrooms and mixed businesses under the one, glamorous roof.

Thins you need to see :

1.Queen Victoria building staircase

2.Queens letter

3.Queen victoria building clock

Tours:

Take place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11.30am. Meet at the concierge on the ground floor (underneath the main dome).

Tours cost $15, are approximately 45 minutes, and while stocks last, you also get a souvenir – a green, waterproof QVB bag made by the same company that creates the Harrods green bags that so many bring back from London. It’s also a great thing to do.

You can usually turn up on the day but to make sure there’s room, you can book ahead by calling the QVB Concierge on 02 9264 9209.