Sydney - Sydney Hospital

Sydney Hospital is a principal hospital in Sydney. It is situated on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia and it first got the name Sydney Hospital in 1881.
The building stands on the site of what was once the central section of the original convict-built Sydney Hospital, known as the Rum Hospital, because the builders were paid by being allowed to import rum for resale. Both the south and north wings of the Rum Hospital survive as Parliament House and the Sydney Mint.
The central wing was demolished in 1879 and the new hospital, which still functions today, was completed in 1894. The Classical Revival building boasts an elegant floral stained-glass windows in its entrance hall and a Baroque staircase.
In the inner courtyard, there is a coloured Art Deco fountain (1907). At the front of the Sydney Hospital sits Il Porcellino, a brass boar. It was donated in 1968 by an Italian woman whose relatives had worked at the hospital. The statue is a symbol of the close friendship between Australia and Italy. It is supposed to bring good luck to all those who rub his snout.