St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong
church in Victoria, Australia
The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels is a Roman Catholic basilica located in Yarra Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Since the completion of the Gothic Revival bluestone building in 1937, St. Mary of the Angels has had the tallest bluestone spire in Australia, at 150 feet (46 m), and has the fourth-tallest non-cathedral spire in Australia
Pope John Paul II raised the shrine to the status of Minor Basilica on 9 June 2004.
It is the third tallest building in Geelong, with a total height of 210 feet (64 m) from the pavement, and is a major landmark in the city.
History
The first St. Mary's church was a small wooden chapel in Yarra Street, opened on 27 November 1842. The congregation quickly outgrew the chapel and a stone replacement was constructed in 1846.
The optimism the Victorian gold rush brought to Geelong led to plans for a cathedral-like landmark church for the city. The architects were Dowden & Ross, and the foundation stone was laid in 1854.
However, as Geelong's boom slowed, work ceased two years later, leaving Geelong with an incomplete landmark for over a decade.
The public source identifies “St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong” as church in Victoria, Australia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mary, Angels and Basilica.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong”, the useful work is to connect “church in Victoria, Australia” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2887082. Authority coordinates are -38.153, 144.361. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 2004, 1842 and 1846.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.