When it opened in 1893, no one had seen anything like Sydney’s Marble Bar. And no one, over 130 years and several million drinks later, has seen anything quite like it since.

With panelling in Italian and Belgian marble, carved American walnut joinery, mosaics, stained glass and lavish artworks – often depicting scantily clad or naked female figures – it quickly became the city’s favourite late-19th century meeting place.

Today, in the 21st century, it’s proving that it is still a treasure as it cements its position as the CBD’s premier live music venue, a fabulous cocktail “mixology” bar and, yes, a prime meeting place for business associates, friends and family. In terms of a timeless commercial real estate asset, it simply has no comparison.

“It was quite extraordinary at the time it was built, and the fact that it’s survived when so much of Sydney didn’t, and was demolished all around it, is extraordinary too,” says history researcher Leta Keens.

“It’s a true icon. People loved it from the moment it opened, and even in the 1970s, it became the place to meet people and drink. There just weren’t many other stylish places to go back then, and we’ve all grown up with it. It’s wonderful that it’s now just as popular. It’s a fabulous place to be.”

The Marble Bar started its days in George Adams’ now-demolished Tattersalls Hotel on Pitt Street, adjourning the Royal Arcade.

Adams wanted to build a bar for sportsmen after making his fortune running sweepstakes and creating the Tattslotto draw. He engaged architect Varney Parkes, the son of “Father of Federation” Sir Henry Parkes, to design something fabulous in the style of the 15th-century Italian Renaissance. He also commissioned English-born Australian artist Julian Ashton to create a series of paintings, which took him two years to complete. A souvenir brochure published when the bar originally opened proclaimed it to be “the handsomest marble hall in Australia, worthy of London or Paris” and it was frequented as enthusiastically by international visitors as it was by Australians.

Among its patrons were playwright Noel Coward, singer Liza Minnelli and filmmaker Bruce Beresford, while a pivotal scene in the landmark Australian movie They’re a Weird Mob was shot there.

In 1968, the NSW division of the National Trust declared that its preservation was essential due to its historical and architectural significance.

So when both the original hotel and the arcade were demolished to make way for the Hilton Hotel in 1969, the decision was made to preserve it as perfectly as possible.

As a result, the bar was taken apart stone by stone, panel by panel, with each piece carefully numbered, X-rayed, dismantled, documented, crated and stored, so that it could all be painstakingly put back together again in a new venue. It finally reopened in 1973 as part of the new Hilton Sydney complex and, since 2023, has been hosting live music, now seven nights a week.

“It has so much character, it makes it stand apart from anywhere else,” says Hilton Sydney general manager Malcolm Zancanaro. “If only the walls could talk!

“It’s always been a meeting place for Sydney, and it will long continue to be. I remember coming here in the 1990s and it’s just the same today.

“When people travel to Sydney, they want to stay in a hotel with a great restaurant and bar, while it’s also a beautiful space that stands on its own. And now we’re keeping that legacy, that experience and that energy going with live entertainment and premium drinks and mixology.”