Designed by Rev Fred Thatcher, the first vicar of Wellington, this wonderfully woody former Anglican cathedral (1866) is well worth a look. Despite its modest dimensions it's an exemplary example of Gothic Revival architecture, with a ceiling like a ship's hull constructed from native timbers. Inside are claret carpets, drawers of old altar textiles, brassy organ pipes and a little shop.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Wellington attractions

1. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

0.11 MILES

Ngā Taonga is a vortex of NZ moving images into which you could get sucked for days. Its library holds tens of thousands of titles: feature films,…

2. National Library of New Zealand

0.12 MILES

As well as being a wonderful resource for researchers, the National Library has various exhibition spaces including the Turnbull Gallery, displaying rare…

3. Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

0.15 MILES

At 88m long and 18m high, this modern Anglican cathedral exudes quasi-Moorish architectural vibes inside its lofty interiors. It first opened its doors in…

4. New Zealand Parliament

0.21 MILES

New Zealand might be a young country but it has one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world and has chalked up more than its share…

5. Old Government Buildings

0.25 MILES

Across the road from Parliament, this grand Italianate structure (1876) is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere, although it does a…

6. Katherine Mansfield House & Garden

0.43 MILES

Often compared to Chekhov and Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield was one of NZ’s most distinguished authors, who pushed the short-story form to uncharted…

7. Bolton Street Cemetery

0.51 MILES

Lost beneath a canopy of oak and pohutukawa, between freeway off-ramps and apartment towers, this fabulously dank and atmospheric remnant dates back to…

8. New Zealand Portrait Gallery

0.52 MILES

Housed in a heritage red-brick warehouse on the waterfront, this estimable gallery presents a diverse range of NZ portraiture and caricature from its own…