St Patrick's Catholic Church

Queenstown & Wanaka


Apart from its impressive Star of David–shaped rose window, this 1874 stone Gothic Revival church, built from local schist rock, wouldn't be worth noting if it weren't for its connection to Australasia's only Catholic saint. Acclaimed educator St Mary of the Cross, aka Mary MacKillop (1842–1909), founded a convent in the tiny 1870s miners cottage next door. There are interesting displays about the saint in the church and in the restored cottage.

The church and cottage are usually unlocked – go to the back door of the cottage.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Queenstown & Wanaka attractions

1. Lakes District Museum & Gallery

0.1 MILES

Exhibits cover the gold-rush era and the early days of Chinese settlement around Arrowtown. Kids are kept engaged by the likes of an 'Odd One Out' game…

2. Arrowtown Gaol

0.11 MILES

With gold rushes came lawlessness. Arrowtown's prisoners were originally manacled to logs, but in 1876 this schist jail, now surrounded by homes, was…

3. Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

0.3 MILES

Strung along the creek, near the site of Arrowtown's first gold find, is NZ’s best example of an early Chinese settlement. Interpretive signs explain the…

4. Chard Farm

5.46 MILES

The most picturesque of the Gibbston wineries, Chard Farm's rustic cellar door is reached by a precipitous 2km road overlooking the Kawarau Bridge Bungy…

5. Gibbston Valley

6.38 MILES

The area's oldest commercial winery (established in the early 1980s) offers tours of the winery ($35) and NZ's largest wine cave ($20). It also has a…

6. Pisa Conservation Area

7.44 MILES

Covering much of the Pisa Range, this conservation reserve has several walking trails through the tussock grass. To get the full show, the 19km tramp to…

7. Peregrine

8.01 MILES

Peregrine by name, peregrine by design…the award-winning construction of the cellar door, shaped a bit like a falcon's wing in flight, looks particularly…

8. Rockburn

8.3 MILES

Producers of one of the region's most acclaimed pinot noirs; its cellar door is in the front yard of the rustic Gibbston Tavern.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "new-zealand/queenstown-and-wanaka/arrowtown/attractions/st-patrick-s-catholic-church/a/poi-sig/1203486/362739",
      "destination": "Queenstown-&-Wanaka",
      "continent": "Australia-&-Pacific",
      "country": "New-Zealand",
      "region": "Queenstown-&-Wanaka",
      "position": "superzone"
    }