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Melbourne is the capital and the largest city in the state of Victoria. The urban area today has around 5 million inhabitants and Melbourne has thereby experienced significant growth since its founding in 1835, when settlers from Tasmania came here.
Many of Australia’s famous institutions and buildings can be seen in Melbourne. You can see the exhibition building Royal Exhibition Building, which is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Another place is famous the railway station on Flinders Street and visit the National Gallery of Victoria as well.
Melbourne’s famous trams drive on a loop and other lines in the city where there are many different activities to enjoy. The nightlife thrives on the banks of the Yarra River, and once a year watch grand slam tennis when the Australia Open is played in town.
The surrounding area of Melbourne is beautiful with plenty of opportunities. A drive on Great Ocean Road is unforgettable and the famous penguins on Phillip Island are highly worth the trip. You can also take the ferry to Tasmania from the capital of Victoria.
The Circle Tram Line is a tram line that runs on a stretch around Melbourne’s central city. The trams on the line run on the tracks of the city’s regular tram network, but the Circle Tram Line is itself a tourist tram that is a charming and great way to get around the city and see some of Melbourne’s sights.
Line 35, which is also called the Circle Tram Line, started running in 1994 after a small expansion of the rail network, so that a tour around the business district could be established. Since opening, the route has been extended a few times, and today it is a so-called zero fare route, which means that the Circle Tram Line is a free offer for locals and tourists who want to use the line.
You can get on the Circle Tram Line at many places on the route, and the trams themselves are also an experience. They are of the W-class type, which were built between 1923 and 1956. The trams are some of Melbourne’s iconic landmarks, and a round trip takes about an hour. The Circle Tram Line runs on the circular route in both directions.
Parliament House is the seat of the Parliament of the State of Victoria. The Parliament building is considered to be Australia’s most beautiful among the individual states’ corresponding buildings. The style is elegant classicist with a large staircase facing Spring Street and the city of Melbourne. The Parliament’s associated park is also a very nice facility, and when visiting the building you should also take a stroll here.
The first plans for a parliament on this site emerged before the colony of Victoria’s self-government in 1851. Governor Charles La Trobe instructed the chief surveyor, Robert Hoddle, to select a site for a new parliament. Hoddle chose the site at the end of Bourke Street, as it afforded a view over the whole city.
The architects Knight & Kerr designed the new Parliament Building, which was erected in 1855-1856 on the reserved site. The planned parliament building was large, so initially they concentrated on completing the meeting places for the two chambers of parliament. After this, construction continued, and the construction of the complex’s eastern wing and the Parliament’s library were completed in 1860.
The Great Hall and Parliament’s vestibule were completed in 1879, and eight years later The Great Hall was renamed the Queen’s Hall. Queen’s Hall was used for large banquets and various representative events. Parliament House was also intended to have first a tower and later a dome, but these plans were not realised.
The Royal Exhibition Building is an impressive structure that was completed in 1880 as an exhibition building in connection with the Melbourne International Exhibition held in the city in 1880-1881. The Melbourne International Exhibition was the eighth World’s Fair and the first to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.
It was the architect Joseph Reed who was also behind Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria. He designed the large work with inspiration from many architectural styles and historical buildings. The great dome of the Royal Exhibition Building was inspired by the cathedral in Florence, and it rises centrally over the exhibition building with a height of 68 meters. The other part of the construction was inspired, among other things, by the round arch style and Byzantine buildings.
The Royal Exhibition Building was used for the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888, and here the words Victoria Welcomes All Nations were written. However, the most important event took place in 1901, when the building hosted the opening of Australia’s first parliament as an independent state. It happened on 9 May 1901, and later the Parliament of the State of Victoria held meetings here for a number of years.
In 1948 Melbourne City Council voted to demolish the Royal Exhibition Building or retain it. They decided that it should be preserved and some of the sports during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games were held in the large building.
In 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building entered the UNESCO World Heritage List as the first building in Australia. One of the reasons was that the large structure was one of the only surviving 19th century fashionable exhibition buildings in the world.
Cook’s Cottage is a house that was originally built in England in 1755 by James and Grace Cook, who were the parents of the famous explorer Captain James Cook. The house was built in the English village of Great Ayton, and it stood here until 1933, when the owner of the house put it up for sale.
The owner first wanted to sell it on the condition that it stay in England. However, she was convinced to change England to the British Empire, and the condition also included Australia on the positive list. The owner received a local bid of £300, while Australian Russell Grimwade offered £800 and that bid was accepted.
Cook’s Cottage was then taken apart and placed in 253 boxes and 40 barrels, which were shipped from Hull to Australia, where it was rebuilt at the house’s current location in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. Grimwade formally donated the rebuilt house to the people of Victoria on 15 October 1934. It happened in connection with the 100th anniversary of the European presence in the region.
It is not known for sure whether Captain Cook himself lived in the house, but he must have visited here, if he did not also live here. It’s a good story, and in the house you get a good impression of 18th-century England and of Captain Cook’s life and voyages of discovery.
In Fitzroy Gardens, close to Cook’s Cottage, you can see a Tudor-style model village. It was donated by English cities as a thank you for Melbourne’s help during World War II. The model city was built in cement by the Englishman Edgar Wilson and inaugurated in 1948.
The Shrine of Remembrance is a large memorial that is perhaps Melbourne’s most distinctive building. The memorial was erected in memory of the state of Victoria’s 114,000 men and women who took part in the First World War, and of course not least those who fell in battle. There were a total of 89,100 who served abroad, and of those approximately 19,000 did not return.
The central monument was built in the years 1928-1934, and later new elements have been built in connection with wars and conflicts since the First World War. After the Second World War, an eternal flame was established, among other things, and a memorial park was created in relation to wars such as those in Korea and Vietnam.
The Shrine of Remembrance was designed by architects Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop, who both themselves served in World War I. The style is classicist, and Hudson and Wardrop were inspired by the mausoleum in Halicarnassus and the Parthenon in Athens. At the top of the pyramid is a figure that was inspired by the Lysikrates monument that also stands in Athens.
The monument is used annually to commemorate Anzac Day on 25 April and Remembrance Day on 11 November. And precisely on November 11, the sun’s rays hit the word “love” in the inscription “Greater love hath no man” on the memorial stone in the complex. There is also a crypt in the monument where you can see a bronze statue of a father and son. They represent the two generations who fought in the two world wars of the 20th century.
The Melbourne Museum is a large and exciting museum that makes extensive use of modern technology to produce its vast collection detailing Australia’s flora, fauna and culture. The museum also has a special exhibition on Melbourne’s history.
You can see many different exhibitions at the museum, and one of them is 600 Million Years, which shows the development of life on Earth, and here there are, among other things, several dinosaur skeletons. 600 Million Years tells about the major features that over the years have led to the Victoria we know today.
At the museum you can also see several well-known things from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and other places in the region. This applies, for example, to the stuffed thoroughbred horse Phar Lap, who is considered by many to be the world’s best racehorse of all time. Phar Lap was born in New Zealand in 1926 and died under mysterious circumstances in California in 1932. The horse became legendary after winning 37 of his 52 races.
The Melbourne Museum is also known for the modernist architecture of the museum building, which has made the museum one of the city’s and Australia’s well-known buildings. The museum is located immediately north of another landmark, the Royal Exhibition Building. And it is possible to experience the different architectural styles between the two buildings, and trips to the Royal Exhibition building’s dome are also organized from the Melbourne Museum.
Queen Victoria Market is a seven-hectare market that opened in Victorian Melbourne. It was laid out from the 1860s and opened in 1878 in the northern part of central Melbourne. Today, Queen Victoria Market, Prahran Market and South Melbourne Market are the last remaining markets from the 1800s era when more markets and shopping arcades were opened.
The city’s first burial ground used to be located in the current market area. This is where the first settlers were buried including John Batman who founded Melbourne. The cemetery was closed for several burials in 1854, and in the following decade it was decided to use the area for market purposes.
The oldest building at Queen Victoria Market is the Meat and Fish Hall from 1867-1868. In 1880, shop fronts were built along Elizabeth Street, and new facilities were continuously added to the market you can visit today. In connection with the installation, the graves were moved to other cemeteries in Melbourne.
Federation Square is a modern square that is one of Melbourne’s most unique experiences in urban space. The square is dominated by extremely creative construction and the many activities that often take place here. Thus, Federation Square is both a stylistic experience and a place that acts as a driving force in art, culture and public events.
The square is, in a way, a result of the fact that Melbourne’s urban plan and urban development have always lacked a central square that could act as the city’s focal point. In the 1960s, the city council decided that City Square could be established opposite the city’s town hall on the corner of Collins Street and Swanston Street. The square was realized, but it never came to function as a square, and it was also minimized in space over the years.
In 1996, the Prime Minister of Victoria announced that the city would establish Federation Square as a new focal point in the city. To be inaugurated in 2001 to mark the 100th anniversary of Australia’s founding, the site was to be established on a canopy over some of Melbourne’s centrally located railway land.
Federation Square was then laid out and is located to integrate Flinders Street Station and St. Paul’s Cathedral with the square’s exciting geometric shapes and new buildings. The layout also connects old Melbourne with the Yarra River and the green spaces surrounding the river.
There are many things to notice in Federation Square. The pavement itself consists of stone from Western Australia. The stones lie like a work of art from the Australian outback. The buildings on the square were built in deconstructivism, where building structures are almost dissolved and put together in new ways. This provides many exciting surfaces and angles in the architecture.
Behind the facades you can see, among other things, the Ian Potter Centre, which is part of the National Gallery of Victoria. You can also visit the cinema center Australian Center for the Moving Image and see several other buildings that house various offices and functions.
The Block Arcade is one of the beautiful old shopping arcades, but can be experienced in the streets of Melbourne. The arcade was built 1891-1893 in the late Victorian era and is considered the most beautiful of the city’s shopping arcades.
Walking through The Block Arcade, you can enjoy many details in the decoration such as the central rotunda, mosaic floors, wooden shop fronts, cast iron grilles and glass. Architects Twentyman & Askew designed the arcade and it connects several streets in the city centre.
You can spend a lot of time in The Block Arcade taking in the atmosphere and visiting the shops. Hopetoun Tea Rooms is a special experience where you can enjoy a piece of cake, high tea or something else in a beautiful setting.
There are also other shopping arcades close to The Block Arcade. Strolling can easily visit the Art Deco Cathedral Arcade from 1925 and the magnificent Royal Arcade which opened in Victorian style in 1870.
Rialto Towers is a modern skyscraper in Melbourne’s business district. Rialto Towers is 253 meters high, and the high-rise was built 1982-1986 as the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere. The building no longer has that status and was surpassed in Melbourne by the Eureka Tower when it opened in 2006.
The modern skyscraper towers behind Collins Street, where, as a contrast, you can see the so-called Rialto Building Group, which is a row of old houses in front of the Rialto Towers. The houses were all built between 1888 and 1891 and consist of Olderfleet (471-477 Collins), Record Chambers (479-481 Collins), New Zealand Chambers (483-485 Collins), Winfield Building (487-495 Collins) and Rialto Building ( 497-503 Collins).
In the years 1994-2006, an excellent view could be enjoyed from the 55th floor of the Rialto Towers, where the Melbourne Observation Deck was located. Today you can enjoy the view from the Eureka Tower, while it is now a restaurant in the Rialto Towers at the same height as the old observation deck.
Eureka Tower is a 297 meter tall skyscraper located in Melbourne’s Southbank neighbourhood. The skyscraper was built in the years 2002-2006 and opened as Melbourne’s tallest building, which it was until 2020, when Australia 108 took over that status. A special feature of the Eureka Tower is the gilded glass facades on the upper floors.
At a height of 285 meters is the Melbourne Skydeck, which is an observation deck located on the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower. There is of course an excellent view from the floor to most of Melbourne, and from here you can see many of the city’s well-known sights. You can also visit a smaller outdoor area and the glass cube The Edge, which hangs out from the building.
Flinders Street Station in Melbourne is the oldest of Australia’s major station buildings. The station on Flinders Street is also the country’s oldest station, as the station building on the site was built as early as 1854, when the first train ran to Sandridge, which is now Port Melbourne. However, the growing city and rapidly increasing traffic made an extension necessary not so many years later.
The decision to build a new station was made in 1882, and an architectural competition for a new railway station was held the following year. William Salway’s winning proposal consisted of two separate buildings in Italian, but construction did not proceed. Instead, a new design competition was launched in 1899, where 17 proposals were submitted.
James Fawcett and H. P. C. Ashworth submitted a proposal in lavish French Renaissance and it was chosen as the winner. Their design featured a large dome over the main entrance and a tower at Elizabeth Street. Construction began in 1905 and after five years of construction, the station was officially opened in 1910. Flinders Street Station immediately became a landmark and icon for Melbourne.
There is a special detail that can be noticed on the entrance facade under the dome. Here are a number of clocks that were installed at the former station in the 1860s to show train departure times during the day. The clocks were continuously set manually with a long stick. Today, the clocks are a frequently used meeting place in Melbourne when saying “I’ll meet you under the clocks”.
Melbourne & Olympic Parks is an area where Melbourne’s largest and best-known arenas for several sports matches, concerts, etc. lies. The year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament, the traditional Australian Open, is played in Melbourne Park. The Australian Open was first played in 1905 and the main course for the tournament is the Rod Laver Arena, which was built in 1988.
The Olympic Park is also interesting as the area formed the setting for the Summer Olympic Games held in Melbourne in 1956. However, the Olympic Athletics Stadium can no longer be seen as it was demolished in 2012. Today, the Olympic Park OVal can be seen at the place where the Olympic Stadium was located.
In the area you can also see AAMI Park, a stadium from 2010 where football and rugby are primarily played. North of this is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where you can visit the Australian Sports Museum. The museum is dedicated to Australian sport in many sports, where you can see, among other things, the museum’s Hall of Fame.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is Melbourne’s Anglican cathedral, and it is the seat of the city’s archbishop. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built in neo-Gothic style. The cathedral was dedicated in 1891 and was the tallest building in Melbourne at the time of its dedication. At that time, the church’s towers therefore dominated the city’s skyline, which has changed significantly today. Incidentally, the church spiers were not part of the 19th century church, as they were built on later.
St. Paul’s is located in the center of Melbourne and the church was actually built on the very site where the city’s first service was held. It took place in 1835, and at that time the location was on the outskirts of the city in a market square. The city grew in the decades after the 1830s, and the foundation stone of St. Paul’s Cathedral was laid in 1880. The diocese had decided that a large cathedral should be built to replace St James Old Cathedral, which can still be seen in Melbourne today.
The style bears clear features from the Neo-Gothic and from certain English church buildings. However, there are also a number of decorative elements as in other larger buildings of the time, and the colors and contrasts of the church room were typical elements in William Butterfield’s buildings. You can thus see a beautiful and very atmospheric church space with impressive constructions and beautiful works of art.
St James Old Cathedral is Melbourne’s oldest surviving church. The church was built from 1839, making it one of the few buildings in the city that predates the Victorian gold rush of 1851. Before St James Old Cathedral, there was a small wooden church on the corner of William Street and Little Collins Street.
It was Charles La Trobe who laid the foundation stone of the church on 9 November 1839. Robert Russell, as the city’s surveyor, designed St James Church, which was built by George Beaver. The church was consecrated in 1842, but it was not yet finished at that time. St James was completed in 1847, and the following year Melbourne became an Anglican episcopal seat, giving the church cathedral status.
St James Old Cathedral was the cathedral until 1891, when the bishop moved to the newly consecrated and larger St. Paul’s Cathedral. Since then, St James Old Cathedral has been moved from its original location near the corner of Collins Street and William Street, which was the center of Melbourne in the 1840s. The church was closed in 1913 and reopened in its current location in 1914.
Melbourne is a large city located along the banks of the Yarra River. The city developed north of the river in the 1800s, while in recent times many modern neighborhoods have been built south of the river in the Southbank neighborhood and in the Docklands. In both places you can experience fine architecture and many of the high-rises that dominate Melbourne’s skyline.
You can go for a walk in the areas, but you can also go on a river cruise that gives you the opportunity to see the areas along the Yarra River from a new perspective. The river runs both through some of Melbourne’s many green spaces, across the modern neighborhoods of the city center and to the Southbank and the newly developed Docklands area.
Along the way, there are views of Melbourne’s tallest buildings, the bridges over the Yarra River and special sights such as the three-masted wooden ship Polly Woodside, which is located in one of the city’s original historic docks. Polly Woodside was built in 1885 and reconstructed to its original condition. Today, the ship is set up as a museum.
The National Gallery of Victoria is the state of Victoria’s national gallery, and it is an institution that has been exhibiting works of art for the citizens of Melbourne since 1861, making the museum the oldest art museum in both Melbourne and Australia.
At the museum you can experience, among other things, a lot of international art, which can be seen in the gallery’s main exhibition building; NGV International on St Kilda Road. Here there are works by many world-famous artists. Claude Monet, René Magritte, El Greco and Rembrandt are among those represented in the permanent exhibitions, as well as changing exhibitions.
The National Gallery of Victoria also has a section of Australian works. It’s the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, which is close to Federation Square. NGV Australia opened in 2002, and here, among other things, there is a focus on Aboriginal art. You can also follow a chronological development in Australian art.
The Royal Botanic Gardens is Melbourne’s royal botanic garden, considered to be one of the most beautifully landscaped in the world. And that is also the impression you get on a trip to the garden, where there are a multitude of different plants, large lawns and beautiful lakes. As a backdrop to all the greenery in the garden, you can see Melbourne’s modern skyscrapers, and this provides an exciting contrast.
The botanic garden was founded in 1846, where a 38-hectare area south of the Yarra River was laid out for the purpose. The garden was laid out, and in 1857 the National Herbarium of Victoria was established. Since then, the garden has been continuously developed, so that today there are over 50,000 plants spread over thousands of species. Added to this is the collection at the National Herbarium.
Chinatown in Melbourne is a colorful and festive neighborhood with its center at the eastern end of Little Bourke Street, where there are a number of Chinese shops and restaurants. They are run by some of the city’s Chinese immigrants, whose history goes back to the 1850s gold rush in Victoria.
When gold was found in Victoria in 1851, immigrants came from near and far and Melbourne grew. There were also thousands of Chinese from mainly the Hong Kong area and southern China. Little Bourke Street became a place where people passing through in search of gold came for, among other things, supplies, and soon after the Chinese had established many businesses.
Melbourne’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the Western world, and from the start it developed rapidly. In 1859, there were 45,000 Chinese in Victoria, equivalent to almost 8.5% of the population. Today, the Chinese make a clear mark on the area, and there are, among other things, four Chinese gates in each Russell Street, Swanston Street, Exhibition Street and Cohen Place. You can also see a statue of Sun Yat-sen and a Chinese garden.
Old Melbourne Gaol is Melbourne’s oldest surviving prison, and it is also one of the earliest structures in the city. The old house was built from 1839, and it was opened as a prison in 1845. The prison cells were quickly overcrowded, and the gold rush of 1851 added to the hustle and bustle. Therefore, the complex was expanded several times.
The prison closed in 1924, and through the actives, 133 hangings had taken place here. One of the most famous inmates and hanged was the notorious highwayman Ned Kelly, who became known as the Man in the Iron Mask.
Today, Old Melbourne Gaol is set up as a museum, where you can see the buildings and depictions of prison life in the 1800s. In the long cell corridors, you can see a number of effects such as Ned Kelly’s death mask. Evening tours are also organized in the eerie atmosphere of the former institution.
Melbourne Central is a combined shopping center and office area located in the heart of Melbourne’s business district amongst a section of the city’s high-rises. In the complex there is also an office tower with a height of 211 metres, which was one of Melbourne’s tallest skyscrapers when it opened in 1991. Since opening, Melbourne Central has also been one of the city’s popular shopping locations.
When you visit Melbourne Central, you can see inside the 50 meter high tower called Coop’s Shot Tower. The tower was built in 1888, and in it it stands integrated in the modern surroundings under an 80 meter high conical glass construction.
The tower was used until 1961 for the production of lead bullets. It happened after Englishman William Watt’s patented tower casting process of 1782. By eliminating gravity and using the force of cohesion, lead was allowed to drip through a sieve downwards, where it became balls and cooled as it fell. Therefore, the production plant had the height that you find with Coop’s Shot Tower.
The Old Treasury Building Museum is a museum that tells a broad story about Melbourne’s history, architecture, culture and modern lifestyle. Through exciting exhibitions, you can experience the early discoveries of John Batman, the city’s almost explosive growth after the gold rush in Victoria and the development into today’s metropolis.
You can also notice the museum building itself, which is interesting and of historical interest. It was built 1858-1862 as the National Bank of the British Australian Colony, the Old Treasury Building, and you can see the preserved storage rooms for Australia’s gold. It was the only 19-year-old John James Clarke who designed the building.
Arts Center Melbourne is a building complex that is a center for various performing arts. There are several stages in the facility, where you can experience theater performances, large opera productions and outdoor concerts, among other things. Various entertainments have been held at this location since the early 1900s, but the complex today is of recent date.
It was the architect Roy Grounds who designed the Arts Center Melbourne, and construction started in 1973 with ongoing inaugurations of the site’s theaters and concert halls. However, it is the high spire that is most characteristic of the building. The spire was originally completed in 1981, but it had to be reconstructed in 1996, and today the 162 meter high construction is one of the neighbourhood’s landmarks.
Hosier Lane is one of the many so-called laneways, which are side streets and arcades from the Victorian central business district of Melbourne. Hosier Lane connects Flinders Street and Flinders Lane. Despite its location in the heart of the city, for many years Hosier Lane was not a well-known and visited place.
That changed from the 1990s, when Hosier Lane became known as a fine example of street artist graffiti, and the side street was opened as a living street art gallery in 1998. Today, you can walk through the street and experience the works that, despite the fame, still have nature of illegal painting.
The LUME Melbourne is a digital art gallery that ranks among the world’s leading of its kind. It is a gallery which, through the use of technology, creates unique experiences in the digital world, where you can have changing themed exhibitions and enjoy a multitude of experiences.
At the gallery you can experience, among other things, some of the world’s most famous works of art in ways that stimulate different senses in terms of shape, size and exposure. It’s like a journey to a symphony of aromas, colors, sounds and light in an exciting digital world.
State Library Victoria is the state library of the Australian state of Victoria, where Melbourne is the capital. Founded in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, it is Australia’s oldest public library. The year before its foundation, the Governor of Victoria had taken the initiative to establish a combined library, gallery and museum, and Joseph Reed won the architectural competition for the construction.
The foundation stone for the current library building was laid in 1854, and the first part was inaugurated two years later. It happened with a book collection of 3,800 works, and the place was one of the world’s first libraries with free access. You just had to be at least 14 years old and have clean hands to enter. Today, the State Library Victoria is one of Melbourne’s great buildings, and it is known for the beautiful reading room in the building’s rotunda.
Melbourne Town Hall is the city’s town hall and thus the administrative seat of local government. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne also has his office in the large building that was erected in the city center from 1867 to 1887. Along the way, the City Hall was officially opened in 1870, and since its opening, extensions have been built that were necessary in the growing metropolis.
Melbourne was officially incorporated as a city in 1842 and the first town hall was built 1851-1854. However, the town hall quickly became too small, and therefore a new building was decided upon, for which the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred, laid the foundation stone during a visit to Melbourne.
The town hall was designed by the local architect Joseph Reed, who also designed other large contemporary buildings such as the State Library of Victoria and the Royal Exhibition Building, which are also well-known sights in Melbourne’s streets today. The town hall also got a tower, which was named Prince Alfred Tower after the English prince who officially started construction.
The Town Hall building is particularly notable for The Main Auditorium, which originally housed an organ from 1872. The auditorium and organ were destroyed by fire in 1925, and a new organ was subsequently installed in 1929. Today, the auditorium and other parts of Melbourne City Hall used for concerts, theater and various exhibitions.
The Great Ocean Road is a beautiful stretch of road along the south-west coast of the state of Victoria. The road is known as one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Australia. It is 243 kilometers long and connects the towns of Torquay and Allansford at Warrnambool. You can drive part of the route or the whole route, where you pass through cozy towns and have a view of lovely beaches, forests and unique rock formations.
It was repatriated soldiers from World War I who built the Great Ocean Road from 1919 to 1932. The road was dedicated to fallen soldiers in the war, and thus the stretch is formally a war memorial. Before the Great Ocean Road, there were many small communities that had no roads and where you had to take the sea route or bush tracks to get there. With the construction of the road, access to these parts of Victoria was improved, not least benefiting tourism and the timber industry.
There were approximately 3,000 returned soldiers who worked on the construction of the long road, and it was largely done by hand. Some parts of the Great Ocean Road were more difficult to construct than others, and this was not least true along the coastal cliffs. Work progressed at about a mile a month and on 18 March 1922 the first section between Eastern View and Lorne was opened. Until 1936 it cost money to travel the Great Ocean Road, but this year the ownership of the road passed to the state, which waived the payment for its use.
There are many things to see along the way when driving along the Great Ocean Road. The town of Torquay is the gateway to the road when coming from Melbourne and Geelong. Torquay was first called Spring Creek and then Puebla, before it got its current name in 1892 on the initiative of James Follett, who had emigrated here from Torquay in English Devon. The town developed into a seaside resort town and is world famous for surfing beaches with Bells Beach being the most famous. Bells Beach lays down waves for major competitions and you can visit the Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay.
The beaches and nature continue along the Great Ocean Road, passing the towns of Anglesea and Aireys Inlet, famous for the Split Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1891 on the rocky coast, and there were lighthouse keepers on duty until 1919, when the lighthouse’s light was automated with gas as a light source. The 34 meter high tower stands on a cliff 66 meters above sea level, so over time it has guided many ships safely between Cape Otway and the entrance to Port Philip at Point Lonsdale. You can go up to the Split Point Lighthouse, from where there is an excellent view. One can also go to viewpoints in the area.
If you continue to the southwest, you come to the town of Lorne. The Great Ocean Road came here in 1922 and you could go here on excursions by transport from 1924. The road opened to tourism and small guesthouses were opened. Since then, the town has developed, and you can stop at the Lorne Visitor Center and visit the Great Ocean Road Heritage Center with an exhibition about the construction of the Great Ocean Road. You can also see several beautiful waterfalls in the area immediately south and west of the town, and you can enjoy the view of the coastline from Teddy’s Lookout in the heights south of Lorne.
The next stop for many of the tourists on the Great Ocean Road is the town of Apollo Bay. Apollo Bay is a well-known tourist town that got its name from the ship Apollo, which Captain Loutit sailed here in 1845 to protect it from a storm. The first sawmills opened in the 1850s, and timber became a major industry. In the 1870s, the town was established and subdivided, and today it is a tourist town where you can visit various festivals during the season. The main street, Collingwood Street, is today part of the Great Ocean Road.
Apollo Bay became known in Australia in 1936 when a submarine cable was laid between Apollo Bay and the town of Stanley in Tasmania. With the cable with the first telephone connection from Tasmania to the rest of the country created. You can learn more about that part of history at the Apollo Bay Cable Station and Museum. Today, Apollo Bay is also the starting point for trips to Cape Otway and Great Otway National Park. It is a beautiful natural area and for a 30 kilometer stretch the Great Ocean Road does not follow the coastline. It provides opportunities to take a closer look at this part of Victoria’s nature.
Great Otway National Park is a popular stop on the Great Ocean Road. In the national park, you can walk along many paths in nature, which include large forests, rocky coasts and beaches. You may also be lucky enough to see some of the Australian wildlife here, as the area is known for housing many koalas. From the shores you can also see several different whales. Far to the south is Cape Otway, to which expeditions were sent in 1846 to find a place to build a lighthouse. The result was the Cape Otway Lighthouse in 1848, which remains in operation as Victoria’s oldest working lighthouse.
After the trip through Cape Otway National Park, you will pass Castle Cove Lookout, a viewpoint over this part of the coastline that lies west of Cape Otway. After Castle Cove Lookout there is a stretch of approximately 60 kilometers before returning to the coast as you follow the Great Ocean Road. Along the way, however, you can choose to take a detour to the sea and, for example, walk along The Great Ocean Walk, which gives access to beautiful stretches of coast in the area west of Castle Cove Lookout.
When you come back to the sea, you are in the area with the rock formations De Tolv Apostle/The Twelve Apostles, which are the landmarks of the Great Ocean Road. At the dramatic and 70 meter high cliff coast, the up to 45 meter high rocks lie scattered like stones thrown into the water. The Apostles, as these monoliths are called, have been shaped by ocean waves over the past 20 million years. You can experience the beautiful natural scenery from several well-placed viewing platforms along what constitutes the westernmost part of the Great Ocean Road.
West of the Twelve Apostles you can visit the Loch Ard Gorge, whose coast has been notorious for causing many shipwrecks over time. Lord Ard Gorge is accessible from a car park with a descent to the sea and a view through the gorge. If you continue approximately 15 kilometers to the west, you can see the rock formation London Arch, which stands like an arch in the water. Until 1990, the London Arch was landlocked with another arch, and then the place was called London Bridge. West of the London Arch you pass through the town of Peterborough before the Great Ocean Road turns away from the sea on the final stretch to Allansford. The last look across the water is to the many rocks in the Bay of Islands.
Rippon Lea Estate is a beautiful mansion property surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was Frederick Thomas Sargood who built the mansion in 1868. The Sargood family lived here until Frederick’s death in 1903, and over the years they had extended the house several times in the contemporary Victorian style. The house’s tower was built in 1897, and it is one of the mansion’s distinguishing features.
The mansion’s big attraction is the Victorian house and not least the surrounding garden, which spreads out with beautiful grounds of more than five hectares. Here there are, among other things, many flower beds, a lake and a lookout tower, from which there is a nice view of the facility.
Ballarat is a city that has played a major role in Melbourne’s development. It was here that gold was found here in 1851, and it immediately started a gold rush in Victoria. More than 20,000 knights of fortune came to the city after the gold discovery, and Ballarat and the whole region became prosperous.
Ballarat was a boomtown and it even became a cultural and economic rival to Melbourne for some years. The great wealth also created problems, culminating in 1854 with the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, where gold miners protested against increased payments to the British colonial government. It was here that the Eureka flag was first used.
The gold rush eventually ebbed, but Ballarat managed the transformation from boomtown to modern city in the industrial age well. A number of beautiful buildings were built, such as Her Majesty’s Theater from 1875 and Craig’s Royal Hotel from 1862. Prince Alfred stayed at the hotel in 1867, when he was the first royal to visit the city.
Today, Ballarat is one of the largest cities in Victoria, yet it is much smaller than the metropolis of Melbourne. A number of Victorian buildings from the late 1800s can be seen in Ballarat’s cozy streets; eg the Town Hall from 1870-1872, the old post office from 1864 and the Ballarat Railway Station.
Perhaps the best-known place in the city is the open-air museum Sovereign Hill, where an environment from 1850s Ballarat has been recreated. Sovereign Hill is located on a large area in the suburb of Golden Point, and here you can take a closer look at the houses on Main Street, horse-drawn carriages, the gold rush and the hunt for gold. You can also enter a mine with a small mine train.
Phillip Island is an island located south of Melbourne. It is named after Arthur Phillip, who was the first Governor of New South Wales. The island is a popular excursion destination and today it is landlocked with the Australian mainland by a 640 m long bridge between the towns of San Remo and Newhaven.
On Phillip Island is the large nature area, where there are, among other things, many birds, penguins and kangaroos, and on the westernmost part of the island is Australia’s largest seal colony.
On Phillip Island, you can also experience the daily ritual of the island’s world-famous penguins. At sunset on Summerland Beach, masses of penguins migrate from the sea, across the beach and up to the dunes, where they spend the night on land. This sight is a draw for visitors from all over the world.
Monash Freeway/Princes Highway
chadstoneshopping.com.au
Elizabeth Street
melbournesgpo.com
Maribyrnong
highpoint.com.au
Burwood Highway
knoxshoppingcentre.com.au
LaTrobe Street/Swanston Street
melbournecentral.com.au
Lonsdale Street/Swanston Street
qv.com.au
1239 Nepean Highway, Cheltenham
westfield.com/southland
Bourke Street Mall, Bridge Road, Collins Street, Flinders Lane, Southgate
Melbourne Zoo
Elliott Avenue, Parkville
zoo.org.au
Melbourne Aquarium
Queenswharf Road/Kings Street
melbourneaquarium.com.au
Luna Park
Lower Esplanade, St. Kilda South
lunapark.com.au
Scienceworks & Planetarium
2 Booker Street, Spotswood
scienceworks.museum.vic.gov.au
The Melbourne area, like the rest of Australia, has been inhabited for a long time by the country’s indigenous population, the Aborigines.
The European presence in the area of present-day Melbourne began with George Bass’ exploration at sea in 1797, and three years later James Grant also sailed around the south-east Australian coasts. In 1801, Captain John Murray was the first to enter Port Phillip Bay, and two years later the entire bay was explored by Charles Robbins and Charles Grimes. On that occasion, they also sailed up the Yarra River, bringing them to the area that now forms Melbourne’s central neighborhoods.
1803 was also the year in which the first European settlement was established. It happened at the current Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. However, the place was evacuated after a short time, and it was not until 1834 before the next settlement took place in Victoria and it was at Portland.
In 1835, Australian farmer and businessman John Batman sailed from Tasmania to the mouth of the Yarra River, where he purchased 2,430 km²/938 sq mi of land from the Aborigines. Along with British John Pascoe Fawkner, Batman founded Melbourne, named after British Prime Minister William Lamb, who had the title 2nd Viscount Melbourne.
In 1837 Robert Hoddle established a town plan, he constructed the new city according to a rigorous pattern with carefully measured and perpendicular streets. Governor Gipp’s idea for this was to get ready and sell land for construction as soon as possible. A curiosity of the town plan is the missing squares, which were left out according to Gipp’s order. He believed squares could be used to gatherings and thus promote democratic thoughts.
The following years went by quickly. Land sales were repeatedly made in the city, and in 1838 the port was opened, which started a substantial immigration. Within the next decade, several public institutions were established, including a hospital. In 1836, about 200 people lived here, while the numbers reached 25,000 in 1850.
1851 became a landmark year for Melbourne. With the city as the central part, Victoria was separated from New South Wales, thereby becoming an independent colony. Immediately after, gold was found in Ballarat west of Melbourne, triggering a colossal gold fever and rush to the area.
The gold fever led to explosive growth in immigration, and after a few years of migration more than 250,000 people lived here. During this time, a third of the world’s gold was mined in the state of Victoria.
The development came with the population and prosperity of not least the gold finds. Gasworks opened in 1852 and two years later the first Flinders Street railroad station was constructed. University, state library, telegraph and a town hall were just some of the many state buildings built in the 1850s.
Melbourne also expanded greatly in the cultural field. The city’s museum was founded in 1855, and six years later the first horse race, the Melbourne Cup, was held. That same year, the city set the frame for the state of Victoria’s major exhibition.
The last decades of the 19th century continued as an almost unbroken period of growth. The population increased, and new large public and private buildings were constantly being built. In 1885 the first tram line was launched and today Melbourne is known for its many trams. In the period, Melbourne was the industrial and economic center, and it is the place for the leading political administration of the Australian colonies.
The new nation, the Commonwealth of Australia, was established in 1901 with the accession of all the Australian states. Both Sydney, which had grown strongly and enjoyed increasing commercial success and population growth, and Melbourne claimed to become the country’s capital. As a compromise, Canberra was chosen, which is between the two major cities. New government buildings were to be constructed in Canberra, and until Parliament was ready in 1927, Melbourne was the working capital.
The first half of the 20th century was a tougher time than before for the city and the country. The state sent more than 100,000 soldiers into combat in World War I, and the economic depression era followed, which was again followed by World War II, when Australian soldiers once again came in combat in large numbers.
After the end of World War II, a new wave of immigration hit Melbourne. In the 1950s and 1960s many Greeks and Italians came to the city in particular, and they continue to make their mark on Melbourne. In addition to internationalization with major immigration, Melbourne also came into focus when the Olympic Games were held here in 1956.
From the 1970s many Asians arrived to Melbourne, and in recent years especially people from North Africa have settled in the now very international city, which has a population of 3.5 million.
In the late 1900s, work began on transforming the old and slightly run-down port areas, Docklands, into a modern and exciting environment with activities and a variety of dining and shopping options. Modern high-rise buildings were also built several places in the city, including along the Yarra River. Today, these are just some of many lovely places in Melbourne’s open and bustling neighborhoods.
Overview of Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and the largest city in the state of Victoria. The urban area today has around 5 million inhabitants and the city has thereby experienced significant growth since its founding in 1835, when settlers from Tasmania came here.
Many of Australia’s famous institutions and buildings can be seen in the Victorian capital. You can see the exhibition building Royal Exhibition Building, which is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Another place is famous the railway station on Flinders Street and visit the National Gallery of Victoria as well.
About the upcoming Melbourne travel guide
About the travel guide
The Melbourne travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Australian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Melbourne is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Melbourne and Australia
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Melbourne you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Cook’s Cottage • Circle Tram • Royal Exhibition Building • Yarra River
Overview of Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and the largest city in the state of Victoria. The urban area today has around 5 million inhabitants and the city has thereby experienced significant growth since its founding in 1835, when settlers from Tasmania came here.
Many of Australia’s famous institutions and buildings can be seen in the Victorian capital. You can see the exhibition building Royal Exhibition Building, which is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Another place is famous the railway station on Flinders Street and visit the National Gallery of Victoria as well.
About the upcoming Melbourne travel guide
About the travel guide
The Melbourne travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Australian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Melbourne is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Melbourne and Australia
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Melbourne you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
The Block Arcade is one of the beautiful old shopping arcades, but can be experienced in the streets of Melbourne. The arcade was built 1891-1893 in the late Victorian era and is considered the most beautiful of the city’s shopping arcades.
Walking through The Block Arcade, you can enjoy many details in the decoration such as the central rotunda, mosaic floors, wooden shop fronts, cast iron grilles and glass. Architects Twentyman & Askew designed the arcade and it connects several streets in the city centre.
You can spend a lot of time in The Block Arcade taking in the atmosphere and visiting the shops. Hopetoun Tea Rooms is a special experience where you can enjoy a piece of cake, high tea or something else in a beautiful setting.
There are also other shopping arcades close to The Block Arcade. Strolling can easily visit the Art Deco Cathedral Arcade from 1925 and the magnificent Royal Arcade which opened in Victorian style in 1870.
Rialto Towers is a modern skyscraper in Melbourne’s business district. Rialto Towers is 253 meters high, and the high-rise was built 1982-1986 as the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere. The building no longer has that status and was surpassed in Melbourne by the Eureka Tower when it opened in 2006.
The modern skyscraper towers behind Collins Street, where, as a contrast, you can see the so-called Rialto Building Group, which is a row of old houses in front of the Rialto Towers. The houses were all built between 1888 and 1891 and consist of Olderfleet (471-477 Collins), Record Chambers (479-481 Collins), New Zealand Chambers (483-485 Collins), Winfield Building (487-495 Collins) and Rialto Building ( 497-503 Collins).
In the years 1994-2006, an excellent view could be enjoyed from the 55th floor of the Rialto Towers, where the Melbourne Observation Deck was located. Today you can enjoy the view from the Eureka Tower, while it is now a restaurant in the Rialto Towers at the same height as the old observation deck.
Eureka Tower is a 297 meter tall skyscraper located in Melbourne’s Southbank neighbourhood. The skyscraper was built in the years 2002-2006 and opened as Melbourne’s tallest building, which it was until 2020, when Australia 108 took over that status. A special feature of the Eureka Tower is the gilded glass facades on the upper floors.
At a height of 285 meters is the Melbourne Skydeck, which is an observation deck located on the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower. There is of course an excellent view from the floor to most of Melbourne, and from here you can see many of the city’s well-known sights. You can also visit a smaller outdoor area and the glass cube The Edge, which hangs out from the building.
Flinders Street Station in Melbourne is the oldest of Australia’s major station buildings. The station on Flinders Street is also the country’s oldest station, as the station building on the site was built as early as 1854, when the first train ran to Sandridge, which is now Port Melbourne. However, the growing city and rapidly increasing traffic made an extension necessary not so many years later.
The decision to build a new station was made in 1882, and an architectural competition for a new railway station was held the following year. William Salway’s winning proposal consisted of two separate buildings in Italian, but construction did not proceed. Instead, a new design competition was launched in 1899, where 17 proposals were submitted.
James Fawcett and H. P. C. Ashworth submitted a proposal in lavish French Renaissance and it was chosen as the winner. Their design featured a large dome over the main entrance and a tower at Elizabeth Street. Construction began in 1905 and after five years of construction, the station was officially opened in 1910. Flinders Street Station immediately became a landmark and icon for Melbourne.
There is a special detail that can be noticed on the entrance facade under the dome. Here are a number of clocks that were installed at the former station in the 1860s to show train departure times during the day. The clocks were continuously set manually with a long stick. Today, the clocks are a frequently used meeting place in Melbourne when saying “I’ll meet you under the clocks”.
Melbourne & Olympic Parks is an area where Melbourne’s largest and best-known arenas for several sports matches, concerts, etc. lies. The year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament, the traditional Australian Open, is played in Melbourne Park. The Australian Open was first played in 1905 and the main course for the tournament is the Rod Laver Arena, which was built in 1988.
The Olympic Park is also interesting as the area formed the setting for the Summer Olympic Games held in Melbourne in 1956. However, the Olympic Athletics Stadium can no longer be seen as it was demolished in 2012. Today, the Olympic Park OVal can be seen at the place where the Olympic Stadium was located.
In the area you can also see AAMI Park, a stadium from 2010 where football and rugby are primarily played. North of this is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where you can visit the Australian Sports Museum. The museum is dedicated to Australian sport in many sports, where you can see, among other things, the museum’s Hall of Fame.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is Melbourne’s Anglican cathedral, and it is the seat of the city’s archbishop. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built in neo-Gothic style. The cathedral was dedicated in 1891 and was the tallest building in Melbourne at the time of its dedication. At that time, the church’s towers therefore dominated the city’s skyline, which has changed significantly today. Incidentally, the church spiers were not part of the 19th century church, as they were built on later.
St. Paul’s is located in the center of Melbourne and the church was actually built on the very site where the city’s first service was held. It took place in 1835, and at that time the location was on the outskirts of the city in a market square. The city grew in the decades after the 1830s, and the foundation stone of St. Paul’s Cathedral was laid in 1880. The diocese had decided that a large cathedral should be built to replace St James Old Cathedral, which can still be seen in Melbourne today.
The style bears clear features from the Neo-Gothic and from certain English church buildings. However, there are also a number of decorative elements as in other larger buildings of the time, and the colors and contrasts of the church room were typical elements in William Butterfield’s buildings. You can thus see a beautiful and very atmospheric church space with impressive constructions and beautiful works of art.
St James Old Cathedral is Melbourne’s oldest surviving church. The church was built from 1839, making it one of the few buildings in the city that predates the Victorian gold rush of 1851. Before St James Old Cathedral, there was a small wooden church on the corner of William Street and Little Collins Street.
It was Charles La Trobe who laid the foundation stone of the church on 9 November 1839. Robert Russell, as the city’s surveyor, designed St James Church, which was built by George Beaver. The church was consecrated in 1842, but it was not yet finished at that time. St James was completed in 1847, and the following year Melbourne became an Anglican episcopal seat, giving the church cathedral status.
St James Old Cathedral was the cathedral until 1891, when the bishop moved to the newly consecrated and larger St. Paul’s Cathedral. Since then, St James Old Cathedral has been moved from its original location near the corner of Collins Street and William Street, which was the center of Melbourne in the 1840s. The church was closed in 1913 and reopened in its current location in 1914.
Melbourne is a large city located along the banks of the Yarra River. The city developed north of the river in the 1800s, while in recent times many modern neighborhoods have been built south of the river in the Southbank neighborhood and in the Docklands. In both places you can experience fine architecture and many of the high-rises that dominate Melbourne’s skyline.
You can go for a walk in the areas, but you can also go on a river cruise that gives you the opportunity to see the areas along the Yarra River from a new perspective. The river runs both through some of Melbourne’s many green spaces, across the modern neighborhoods of the city center and to the Southbank and the newly developed Docklands area.
Along the way, there are views of Melbourne’s tallest buildings, the bridges over the Yarra River and special sights such as the three-masted wooden ship Polly Woodside, which is located in one of the city’s original historic docks. Polly Woodside was built in 1885 and reconstructed to its original condition. Today, the ship is set up as a museum.
The National Gallery of Victoria is the state of Victoria’s national gallery, and it is an institution that has been exhibiting works of art for the citizens of Melbourne since 1861, making the museum the oldest art museum in both Melbourne and Australia.
At the museum you can experience, among other things, a lot of international art, which can be seen in the gallery’s main exhibition building; NGV International on St Kilda Road. Here there are works by many world-famous artists. Claude Monet, René Magritte, El Greco and Rembrandt are among those represented in the permanent exhibitions, as well as changing exhibitions.
The National Gallery of Victoria also has a section of Australian works. It’s the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, which is close to Federation Square. NGV Australia opened in 2002, and here, among other things, there is a focus on Aboriginal art. You can also follow a chronological development in Australian art.
The Royal Botanic Gardens is Melbourne’s royal botanic garden, considered to be one of the most beautifully landscaped in the world. And that is also the impression you get on a trip to the garden, where there are a multitude of different plants, large lawns and beautiful lakes. As a backdrop to all the greenery in the garden, you can see Melbourne’s modern skyscrapers, and this provides an exciting contrast.
The botanic garden was founded in 1846, where a 38-hectare area south of the Yarra River was laid out for the purpose. The garden was laid out, and in 1857 the National Herbarium of Victoria was established. Since then, the garden has been continuously developed, so that today there are over 50,000 plants spread over thousands of species. Added to this is the collection at the National Herbarium.
Chinatown in Melbourne is a colorful and festive neighborhood with its center at the eastern end of Little Bourke Street, where there are a number of Chinese shops and restaurants. They are run by some of the city’s Chinese immigrants, whose history goes back to the 1850s gold rush in Victoria.
When gold was found in Victoria in 1851, immigrants came from near and far and Melbourne grew. There were also thousands of Chinese from mainly the Hong Kong area and southern China. Little Bourke Street became a place where people passing through in search of gold came for, among other things, supplies, and soon after the Chinese had established many businesses.
Melbourne’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the Western world, and from the start it developed rapidly. In 1859, there were 45,000 Chinese in Victoria, equivalent to almost 8.5% of the population. Today, the Chinese make a clear mark on the area, and there are, among other things, four Chinese gates in each Russell Street, Swanston Street, Exhibition Street and Cohen Place. You can also see a statue of Sun Yat-sen and a Chinese garden.
Old Melbourne Gaol is Melbourne’s oldest surviving prison, and it is also one of the earliest structures in the city. The old house was built from 1839, and it was opened as a prison in 1845. The prison cells were quickly overcrowded, and the gold rush of 1851 added to the hustle and bustle. Therefore, the complex was expanded several times.
The prison closed in 1924, and through the actives, 133 hangings had taken place here. One of the most famous inmates and hanged was the notorious highwayman Ned Kelly, who became known as the Man in the Iron Mask.
Today, Old Melbourne Gaol is set up as a museum, where you can see the buildings and depictions of prison life in the 1800s. In the long cell corridors, you can see a number of effects such as Ned Kelly’s death mask. Evening tours are also organized in the eerie atmosphere of the former institution.
Melbourne Central is a combined shopping center and office area located in the heart of Melbourne’s business district amongst a section of the city’s high-rises. In the complex there is also an office tower with a height of 211 metres, which was one of Melbourne’s tallest skyscrapers when it opened in 1991. Since opening, Melbourne Central has also been one of the city’s popular shopping locations.
When you visit Melbourne Central, you can see inside the 50 meter high tower called Coop’s Shot Tower. The tower was built in 1888, and in it it stands integrated in the modern surroundings under an 80 meter high conical glass construction.
The tower was used until 1961 for the production of lead bullets. It happened after Englishman William Watt’s patented tower casting process of 1782. By eliminating gravity and using the force of cohesion, lead was allowed to drip through a sieve downwards, where it became balls and cooled as it fell. Therefore, the production plant had the height that you find with Coop’s Shot Tower.
The Old Treasury Building Museum is a museum that tells a broad story about Melbourne’s history, architecture, culture and modern lifestyle. Through exciting exhibitions, you can experience the early discoveries of John Batman, the city’s almost explosive growth after the gold rush in Victoria and the development into today’s metropolis.
You can also notice the museum building itself, which is interesting and of historical interest. It was built 1858-1862 as the National Bank of the British Australian Colony, the Old Treasury Building, and you can see the preserved storage rooms for Australia’s gold. It was the only 19-year-old John James Clarke who designed the building.
Arts Center Melbourne is a building complex that is a center for various performing arts. There are several stages in the facility, where you can experience theater performances, large opera productions and outdoor concerts, among other things. Various entertainments have been held at this location since the early 1900s, but the complex today is of recent date.
It was the architect Roy Grounds who designed the Arts Center Melbourne, and construction started in 1973 with ongoing inaugurations of the site’s theaters and concert halls. However, it is the high spire that is most characteristic of the building. The spire was originally completed in 1981, but it had to be reconstructed in 1996, and today the 162 meter high construction is one of the neighbourhood’s landmarks.
Hosier Lane is one of the many so-called laneways, which are side streets and arcades from the Victorian central business district of Melbourne. Hosier Lane connects Flinders Street and Flinders Lane. Despite its location in the heart of the city, for many years Hosier Lane was not a well-known and visited place.
That changed from the 1990s, when Hosier Lane became known as a fine example of street artist graffiti, and the side street was opened as a living street art gallery in 1998. Today, you can walk through the street and experience the works that, despite the fame, still have nature of illegal painting.
The LUME Melbourne is a digital art gallery that ranks among the world’s leading of its kind. It is a gallery which, through the use of technology, creates unique experiences in the digital world, where you can have changing themed exhibitions and enjoy a multitude of experiences.
At the gallery you can experience, among other things, some of the world’s most famous works of art in ways that stimulate different senses in terms of shape, size and exposure. It’s like a journey to a symphony of aromas, colors, sounds and light in an exciting digital world.
State Library Victoria is the state library of the Australian state of Victoria, where Melbourne is the capital. Founded in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, it is Australia’s oldest public library. The year before its foundation, the Governor of Victoria had taken the initiative to establish a combined library, gallery and museum, and Joseph Reed won the architectural competition for the construction.
The foundation stone for the current library building was laid in 1854, and the first part was inaugurated two years later. It happened with a book collection of 3,800 works, and the place was one of the world’s first libraries with free access. You just had to be at least 14 years old and have clean hands to enter. Today, the State Library Victoria is one of Melbourne’s great buildings, and it is known for the beautiful reading room in the building’s rotunda.
Melbourne Town Hall is the city’s town hall and thus the administrative seat of local government. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne also has his office in the large building that was erected in the city center from 1867 to 1887. Along the way, the City Hall was officially opened in 1870, and since its opening, extensions have been built that were necessary in the growing metropolis.
Melbourne was officially incorporated as a city in 1842 and the first town hall was built 1851-1854. However, the town hall quickly became too small, and therefore a new building was decided upon, for which the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred, laid the foundation stone during a visit to Melbourne.
The town hall was designed by the local architect Joseph Reed, who also designed other large contemporary buildings such as the State Library of Victoria and the Royal Exhibition Building, which are also well-known sights in Melbourne’s streets today. The town hall also got a tower, which was named Prince Alfred Tower after the English prince who officially started construction.
The Town Hall building is particularly notable for The Main Auditorium, which originally housed an organ from 1872. The auditorium and organ were destroyed by fire in 1925, and a new organ was subsequently installed in 1929. Today, the auditorium and other parts of Melbourne City Hall used for concerts, theater and various exhibitions.
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