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Photo: Tom Ackroyd, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Home of New Zealand's lawmakers and leaders, the complex consists of four building: the Beehive (or Executive Wing), Parliament House, the Parliamentary Library and Bowen House. The grounds of Parliament are open to the public, and free tours of the buildings are available from the visitor centre located between the Beehive and Parliament House. Depending on parliamentary business, tours may include a visit to the House of Representatives debating chamber and the Select Committee rooms. For security reasons, you need to leave all your belongings at the visitor centre and clear a checkpoint.
The New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. From north to south, they are the Parliamentary Library building (1899); the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament House (1922); the executive wing, called "The Beehive" (1977); and Bowen House. Currently, an additional building for housing Members of Parliament is under construction, which is expected to be completed in 2027. Whilst most of the individual buildings are outstanding for different reasons, the overall setting that has been achieved "has little aesthetic or architectural coherence".
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This imposing brick mansion now seems small and out of place amongst the surrounding high-rises. It is closed for renovation.
Large Anglican church built between 1954 and 1998. The cathedral is a relatively plain design, made of reinforced concrete, and has some fine stained glass. A farmer's market is held in the car park on Saturday mornings.
This is the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere and the second-largest in the world. It is now the home of Victoria University Law School.
The library regularly holds exhibitions.
The Supreme Court was established in 2004 to replace the UK Privy Council as New Zealand's highest court, and primarily hears appeals from the Court of Appeal (New Zealand's second-highest court). The Supreme Court complex was completed in 2010, extending on and incorporating the old 1879-built High Court building. The building is open to the public, but you can only look at the courtroom through a window. If you want to see inside the courtroom, join a free tour available three times a week.
Watch out for the friendly black cat who haunts this hillside cemetery. If you're returning from the Botanic Gardens by foot, this is a great place to meander through and check out the epitaphs of early pioneers and historical figures. Between 1968 and 1971, over 3700 bodies were controversially exhumed to make way for motorway construction; their remains are now in an underground vault below the Early Settlers Memorial Lawn. At the Bolton Street entrance, the former mortuary chapel, reconstructed after the motorway, has information on the cemetery history and guide leaflets if you want to explore further.