The Sydney Museum is built on the ruins of the home of the first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip at the corner of today’s Bridge and Phillip Streets in Sydney, Australia. The house, which was the first seat of the Australian government, was built in 1788 and cleared by archaeologists in 1983[1] [archive]. The museum was built as part of the Governor Phillip Tower project.

The Sydney Museum explores Sydney’s colonial and contemporary history through objects, images and new digital media. A panoramic view of Sydney - from 1788 to the present - stretches across walls and video screens. Convicts from the early days of settlement are being studied in a gigantic display case containing artifacts recovered from more than 25 archaeological sites