2020 marks the second season of WARAMI, a festival commemorating Indigenous culture in Parramatta through a series of fun, educational and interactive online activities from 26 May to 5 July.

Elizabeth Farm has re-opened to welcome visitors four days a week from Wednesday’s to Saturday’s with new digital content available on-site to enrich the visitor’s experience with a direct relevance to the people that lived there in times gone by.

In time to welcome school holiday visitors, Old Government House will be reopened from Friday 3 July following the COVID-19 shutdown.

Council is reopening the Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am–2pm. There will be a limit of 20 customers in this facility at any one time.

The Research Library will be open for pre-arranged appointments only. To arrange please phone 8839 3322 or email localstudies@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au.

This week is National Archaeology Week, a time to promote the importance of protecting Australia’s unique archaeological heritage so we thought we would share our project to preserve our Parramatta history and heritage.

Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre has collated a large resource of biographies, photos and histories of the greater region ANZAC experience.

The Philip Ruddock Heritage Centre juxtaposes the oldest and newest of Parramatta’s buildings. Visitors can look directly onto the foundations of the original settlement, gaining a glimpse into the lives of its earliest European residents.

Experience a fascinating glimpse into the history of the Dairy Cottage Precinct in Parramatta Park.

The Female Orphan School (1813) on the Parramatta Campus of Western Sydney University is one of the most significant heritage sites in New South Wales.

Parramatta’s two cathedrals, St John’s and St Patrick’s, are among the oldest and most historically significant churches on Australian soil.

In the heart of the Parramatta central business district, on the edge of Centenary Square, stands an impressive salmon-coloured structure proudly bearing the words ‘Town Hall’.

This spectacular, UNESCO World Heritage-listed park provides an idyllic space for the Parramatta and wider community to come together and tells a unique story of Australia's history.

Once home to the Macarthur family, today you can turn back time and experience Hambledon Cottage in all its glory as the cottage remains as one of Parramatta's preserved historical buildings.

As the second oldest city in Australia, Parramatta’s history runs deep. Take a walk through the well-preserved historic sites and step back in time through the pre-settlement and early colonial years of the nation.

Even in this thriving city of close to a quarter of a million people, Parramatta has a rather unique ability to take you back into its history.

More than 60,000 years of Indigenous history make up present day Parramatta’s city and surrounds.

Discover UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Government House, the oldest surviving public building in Australia right here in Parramatta.

Learn about Burramatta culture – from Arrunga Bardo garden, where a wealth of bush food grows, to Third Settlement Reserve, where legendary warrior Pemulwuy battled against colonisation.

We take a look at the rich and significant history of the Parramatta Female Factory.

Discover some of the significant pieces of Australian history housed in Parramatta.

Discover the story of James Ruse’s transformation from convict to pioneering man of the land, the stuff of Australian legend.

Discover the history and how you can spend time in, on, above or beside the centrepiece of Parramatta.

A remarkable piece of Australia’s early European history sits modestly among the houses and flats of suburban Parramatta. Elizabeth Farm was the residence of wool pioneer John Macarthur and his family from 1793.

Guiding you from the grisly ‘Hanging Green’ to ‘God’s Acre,’ this tour traces the lives of convicts – where they lived, worked, rioted and were punished.

City of Parramatta offers a Research & Collection Service which manages, preserves and documents the history of our local government area and the people, places, art, events, and natural and built environments which have contributed to the rich history of Parramatta’s communities.