Category Archives: Australia, Commonwealth of

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Apollo Bay (Australia)

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Apollo Bay

From the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we again proceeded on a 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay, a popular stop for package bus tourists at the foothills of the Otways, where we were to have our lunch.

This popular tourist destination and main fishing port is located between the Wye River and Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road.

Check out “Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch“

Visitor Information Center

The town’s commercial center and main shopping strip, along the Great Ocean Road (Collingwood Street), features a good selection of decent restaurants, cafes and several lively pubs situated along one side of the Great Ocean Road, overlooking a wide, grassy foreshore which fronts the main swimming beach.

Start of the Great Ocean wall

Green rolling hills, overlooking Apollo Bay, create quite a scenic backdrop when viewed from the beach, foreshore and shops.

L-R” Cheska, Bryan, the author, Jandy, Kyle and Grace

Jandy and I tried out the 200-pax George’s Take Away, the largest restaurant along Collingwood Street, where we tried out their pasta.  Their menu also includes pizza, fish & chips, coffee, vegetarian meals and roast chicken.

Start of the Great Ocean wall

The Great Ocean Walk, which hugs the coastline and stretches for 91 kms., starts here and ends at Grenample Homestead.  A short walk from the car park, along a scenic mountainside pathway, is the lookout where there are views of Apollo Bay’s town centre, the harbor and beaches up and down the coast.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Lorne (Australia)

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The seaside town of Lorne and its surfing beach

During our 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay from the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we made a short nature call stopover at the seaside town of Lorne, a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road (it extended to this town in 1922).

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Memorial Arch“

This quintessential holiday retreat, attracting visitors for more than a century, has a relaxed Mediterranean feel, mild weather, charming picture-postcard scenery and beautiful Art Deco architecture.  Tall old gum trees line its hilly streets.

From the roadside, we had a panoramic view the 2-km. long, sheltered Lorne surf beach, the only patrolled beach in town, and bathers here were cooling off in the sparkling waters of picturesque Loutit Bay. On the foreshore, residents were picnicking under the trees.   At the pier, people fish for barracuda, whiting and trevally.

Great Pacific Hotel : home of one of the town’s two pubs

A tourist town, Lorne’s main shopping strip is filled with a large number of boutiques and clothing stores, boutique gift stores, cellars, restaurants (serving freshly caught seafood), sidewalk cafes and some art galleries/craft shops.

The foreshore

During the first weekend of January, the town hosts the 1.2 km Pier to Pub swim, described in the Guinness Book of Records as “the largest organized ocean swim in the world” with over 20,000 spectators.

The author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

How to Get There: Lorne is located 140 kms. (a 2-hour drive) south of Melbourne. From Melbourne, daily coach services are available or rail/coach services via Geelong.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Memorial Arch (Australia)

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The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch

From Anglesea, a short 15 min./15.8-km. drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, 5 kms. after the town of Aireys Inlet,  brought us to our next stopover – the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road.  Possibly the most photographed spot on the Great Ocean Road, this is made evident by cars and buses parked on a car park on the ocean side of the road, with people hopping out to take photos.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Anglesea”

The iconic Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the longest  war memorial in the world, was built in honor of the 3,000 returned servicemen who worked on the road after World War I and as a memorial to Mr. W.B McCormack, honorary engineer to the Great Ocean Road Trust.

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch (Australia)

On September 19, 1919, they started construction on the Great Ocean Road and, in November 1932, completed the 243 km. (151 mi.) stretch of road which extends from the town of  Torquay to  Allansford, near Warrnambool, the largest city along the road.

Commemorative plaque

Due to the grueling task of building a road by hand, some soldiers lost their lives during the construction of the road. Their story is recorded on boards at the site.

Bronze statue of The Diggers

A bronze sculpture on the south side of the arch, unveiled on April 13, 2007 (the road’s 75th anniversary) by Bruce Billson (MP Minister for Veteran Affairs), features two returned soldiers working on the Great Ocean Road.  There are also commemorative plaques for the arches built and also plaques for the 50th and 75th anniversary of the road’s opening as well as an information board.

The Diggers plaque

Over the decades, the arch was replaced a few more times. The first arch, erected in 1939, weighed in at 50 tons.  To reimburse the cost of the construction, this first arch was one of the original toll points where money was collected from those travelling along the road. Once the cost of building the road was paid off, the toll point was taken down and a second arch, made mostly with wood, was built in 1973.  This arch was ruined when Ash Wednesday bush fires set it ablaze on February 1983.

 

Commemorative plaques

In the 1970’s, the government, seeing the arch as a hazard to drivers, had plans to take the Memorial Arch down but it was shot down as it was considered a lack of respect for the returned soldiers of World War I.

The third arch, made mostly with metal, was destroyed when a truck ran into the side of the arch.  The present Memorial Arch, the fourth on the site, was made out of wood and has sides made out of stone and cement for support. The original sign still sits on the top of the arch.

The author

From the arch, a sandy trail leads to easy access to the beige sand beach where we stretched our legs and took in the panorama of beach meeting forests.

Jandy and Grace

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch: 689/721 Great Ocean Rd., Eastern View, Victoria 3231, Australia

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Anglesea (Australia)

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Anglesea

Our sixth day in Melbourne was to be spent on Bunyip Tours’ day-long, 243-km.  Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour, one of Australia’s most scenic drives and an important tourist attraction in the region.  After a very early breakfast at our apartment, we walked to the nearby pick up point where we met Mr. Jake Smithers, our tour guide/driver.

Jandy, Kyle and Bryan at the boardwalk along the Anglesea River

As soon as all the tour participants were accounted for at their pickup points, we were on our way.

Our first destination was the town of Anglesea, a 1.5-hour/114 km. drive via M1.  Here, we had a breakfast of muffins and coffee, courtesy of Jake, and had glorious views of the Anglesea River.

Anglesea is well known locally for its regular riverbank markets (held by the river on the Great Ocean Road, Anglesea’s main street), its golf-course (renowned for its resident population of eastern grey kangaroos which graze on the fairways), the Anglesea Cricket Club (which competes in the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association), the Angair Wildflower Festival (September), Surf Coast Walk, Point Roadknight, Point Addis and Harvey Street.

St. Paul’s Cathedral (Melbourne, Australia)

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St. Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne (who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria and, since June 28, 2014, the present seat of the Primate of Australia).

The cathedral’s Gothic transitional facade

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the cathedral:

  • The cathedral was designed by the English architect William Butterfield, known for his distinctive interpretation of the Gothic Revival.
  • It is one of Melbourne’s major architectural landmarks.
  • To fit the block, the cathedral was orientated in line with the central city grid, just off the north-south axis, rather than facing east, the traditional direction.
  • The location for the cathedral marks the place of the first public Christian service in Melbourne was conducted, by Dr. Alexander Thomson, in 1835.
  • In contrast to the bluestone Gothic of St Patrick’s Roman Catholic cathedral, on the eastern hill of the city, as well as other grand 19th century public buildings faced in light grey sandstone imported from other states, the cathedral’s interior stonework is  a mixture of sandstone from the Barrabool Hills and Waurn Ponds limestone, with contrasting stripes of Victorian bluestone, that gives the cathedral a warm coloring. Also, because the spires are built from Sydney sandstone and are 40 years newer, they are different and darker in color than the older parts of the building.
  • Once the Moorhouse Spire, the central spire, was completed to its full height of 95 m. (312 ft.), St Paul’s became the tallest structure in central Melbourne. With the retail heart height limit of 40 m., it has retained its dominance of the immediate area, dominating the city’s skyline when viewed from the south. For nearly 40 years, even without the spires, the cathedral presented a rather solid, horizontal mass.
  • From the southern approaches to the city, St. Paul’s Cathedral occupies a prominent and dominating location at the center of Melbourne, being situated diagonally opposite Flinders Street station (the hub of 19th-century Melbourne and an important transport center) and, immediately to its south, Federation Square (the new public heart of Melbourne). Continuing south down Swanston Street is Princes Bridge, which crosses the Yarra River, leading to St Kilda Road.
  • Besides Sunday and weekday Eucharists, the cathedral maintains the English tradition of a daily choral Evensong, being the only Australian Anglican cathedral to do so.
  • Its 2009 restoration project was acknowledged by the Australian Institute of Architects, the Victorian Chapter Heritage Architecture Award 2009 and the Lachlan Macquarie National Award for Heritage Architecture 2009.

Check out “Federation Square,” “Flinders Street Station” and “St. Patrick’s Cathedral”

Nighttime view of the cathedral

The awe-inspiring St. Paul’s Cathedral, planned in a traditional Latin cross, has a long nave, side aisles, short transepts, a tower at the crossing, with choir below, sanctuary and altar beyond, and a pair of towers framing the ceremonial main entrance.

Heritage Council of Victoria Plaques

The cathedral’s Gothic transitional architecture combines Early English and Decorative Gothic styles. Highlights include the fine polychromatic brickwork, beautifully patterned floor and wall tiles and mosaics, banded masonry stonework, exquisitely timbered roof and tiled dado walls.

The cathedral’s nave

It has played host to many prime ministers, premiers, governors, governors-general and other significant people; hosted many significant occasions in national, Commonwealth and international history; and continues to be the choice venue for many state funerals.

The north aisle

Here’s the historical timeline of the cathedral:

  • In 1880, the foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Victoria, John, Earl of Hopetoun (later Marquess of Linlithgow), in the presence of the Rt Revd Charles Perry, Bishop of Melbourne.
  • In 1884, Butterfield resigned due to disputes between him and the church authorities in Melbourne. The job was then awarded to a local architect, Joseph Reed (of the Australian firm Reed, Henderson and Smart), who completed the building generally faithfully to Butterfield’s design
  • In 1889, Reed designed the attached chapter house in a style matching Butterfield’s.
  • On November 15, 1889, the cathedral’s bells were dedicated and first rung for the departure of Sir Henry Loch (later Baron Loch), the Governor of Victoria.
  • On January 22, 1891, the cathedral (without the spires) was consecrated by the Rt Revd Field Flowers Goe, Bishop of Melbourne.
  • In 1926, construction of the spires began to a new design by John Barr of Sydney, in a more traditional Gothic Revival style and with different stone from the Sydney area. It was also much taller than Butterfield’s original design.
  • In 1929, the pipe organ was rebuilt by Hill, Norman & Beard when the action was electrified and a new console supplied.
  • In 1932, the spires reached their full height
  • On April 30, 1933 a service of thanksgiving was held for their completion.
  • The 1960s saw extensive work completed to the exterior of the cathedral
  • On November 28, 1986, on his arrival in Melbourne, Pope John Paul II paid a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral in recognition of the dialogue between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in Melbourne fostered by their respective former archbishops, the Most Reverend Sir Frank Woods (Anglican) and the Most Reverend Sir Frank Little (Roman Catholic).  As the Pope entered the cathedral, the choir sang “Ecce vicit Leo.” After this, the Pope prayed for Christian unity and lit a meter-long candle.
  • From 1989 – 90, the $726,000 restoration work of the organwas completed, by Harrison & Harrison Ltd, Durham, with the help of a major National Trust The façade pipe stenciling was done by Marc Nobel, Christine Holmes and John Dale after a design by Lyon, Cottier, Wells & Company.
  • On November 28, 2007, a carol service called Carols from St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne featuring the cathedral choir, was recorded by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and broadcast Australia-wide on Christmas Eve.
  • In 2009, the A$18 million, seven-year major restoration works, under the guidance of Falkinger Andronas Architects and Heritage Consultants (now Andronas Conservation Architecture) and undertaken by Cathedral Stone, were completed. Significant repairs were done to restore the spires. Stone heads of the former dean David Richardson and the philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, created by Melbourne sculptor Smiley Williams and carved by stonemason Daryl Gilbert, were added to the spires.  Also installed were the colored glass “Eighth Day” lantern, in the Moorhouse Tower, and  new dalle de verre colored glass doors, created by Janusz and Magda Kuszbicki, and a glass walled airlock for the west Great West door.

The south aisle

The interior, compared to the exterior, feature rich colors and strident color contrasts, characteristic of Butterfield’s work, with all the stonework constructed using Waurn Ponds limestone, its stripes contrasting with the very dark-colored local bluestone.

Chancel and High Altar

The dado (created with patterned glazed tiles), floor (entirely paved with encaustic tile imported from the English firm of Maw & Co., featuring both patterned layouts and patterns within the tiles), high altar and reredos (made from Devonshire marble, alabaster and glittering Venetian glass mosaics) are outstanding examples of High Victorian Gothic polychromy.

The narthex

In Persian tile, on the rear wall of the narthex, is a replica of an 8-pointed star found in two churches of the Anglican Diocese of Iran (the church of St. Simon the Zealot in Shiraz and St. Luke’s Church in Isfahan).  There are two baptismal fonts – a round font of Harcourt granite (installed when the cathedral was first built) and a cruciform immersion font (built in 1912 in memory of Field Flowers Goe, third Bishop of Melbourne). One of the carved figures on the pulpit is said to be the image of a daughter, who died in infancy, of the former Mayor of Melbourne.

Baptismal Font (South Aisle)

The Chapel of Unity, a memorial chapel, commemorates the historic visit of Pope John Paul II: only the third time in four centuries when a reigning Pope had made an official visit to an Anglican cathedral.

Immersion Font

The pipe organ, commissioned from English builder T. C. Lewis and Co  (one of the most prominent organ builders of the 19th century) of Brixton, England, cost over 6,500 pounds for its construction, shipping and installation before it was played at the cathedral’s 1891 inaugural service .

Interior from the south aisle

Since then, various modifications and maintenance works have been carried out. After the 1989 -90 restoration, the organ, housed in the cathedral’s south transept behind newly stenciled façade pipes, now has four manuals and pedals with 53 stops, all with electro-pneumatic action.

Commemorative plaques along the wall

St. Paul’s ring of 13 bells, a gift from Thomas Dyer Edwardes and all cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1889, consists of 12 bells set for change ringing in the key of C♯, plus an extra bell to allow different subsets of the full number to be rung still to a diatonic scale.  The tenor originally weighed 31 cwt but, after the whole set was sent to Taylor’s Bell Foundry in 1963 for retuning, it now weighs 29cwt.

One of the cathedral’s stained glass windows

St. Paul’s Cathedral : 198 -206 Flinders Street cor. Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: 9653 4333. E-mail: welcome@stpaulscathedral.org.au. Website: www.stpaulscathedral.org.au. Open Mondays to Fridays, 8 AM – 6 PM; Saturdays, 9 AM – 4 PM and Sundays, 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM.  Masses: Sundays (8 AM, 9 AM, 10.30 AM, 6 PM), Mondays to Saturdays (12.15 PM).

Federation Square (Melbourne, Australia)

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Federation Square

Federation Square, a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district, covers an area of 3.2 ha (7.9 acres) and was built above busy railway lines and across the road from Flinders Street station.

It incorporates major cultural institutions (Ian Potter Centre, ACMI, Koorie Heritage Trust, etc.) as well as cafes and bars, in a series of buildings centered around a large paved square, and a glass walled atrium.

Check out “Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia“

Melbourne’s central city grid was designed without a central public square, long seen as a missing element. From the 1920s there were proposals to roof the railway yards on the southeast corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets for a public square, with more detailed proposals prepared in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the 1960s, the Melbourne City Council decided that the best place for the City Square was the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, opposite the town hall. The first temporary square opened in 1968, and a permanent version opened in 1981. It was however not considered a great success, and was redeveloped in the 1990s as a smaller simpler space in front of a new large hotel.

Meanwhile, in the late 1960s, a small part of the railway lines had been partly roofed by the construction of the Princes Gate Towers, known as the Gas & Fuel Buildings after their major tenant, the Gas and Fuel Corporation, over the old Princes Bridge station.

This included a plaza on the corner, which was elevated above the street and little used. Between the plaza and Batman Avenue, which ran along the north bank of the Yarra River, were the extensive Jolimont Railway Yards, and the through train lines running into Flinders Street station under Swanston Street.

This open public square had its beginnings in 1996 when the then Premier Jeff Kennett announced that the Gas & Fuel Buildings would be demolished, the rail yards roofed and a complex including arts facilities and a large public space to be named Federation Square would be built.

Lobby of Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

It was opened in 2001, in time to celebrate the centenary of Australia’s Federation, and included performing arts facilities, a gallery, a cinemedia center, the public space, a glazed winter garden, and ancillary cafe and retail spaces.

Built at a cost of approximately $467 million (over four times the original estimate of between $110 and $128 million), its main funding came primarily from the state government, some from the federal government, $64 million from the City of Melbourne while private operators and sponsors paid for fit outs or naming rights. The square was opened on October 26, 2002.

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) – Australia’s national museum of film, video games, digital culture and art

In 2006, the vaults under Princes Walk (a former roadway) were redeveloped by Federation Wharf into a large bar, with extensive outdoor areas on the Yarra riverbank, with elevator access to Federation Square.

In October 2011, Elizabeth II visited Federation Square. On October 2018, an interim decision to list Fed Square to the Victorian Heritage Register resulted in the square being formally listed in August 2019.

Occupying roughly a whole urban block bounded by Swanston, Flinders, and Russell Streets and the Yarra River, Federation Square is directly opposite Flinders Street station and St Paul’s Cathedral.

The precinct’s layout was designed to connect Melbourne’s historical central district with the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr, a new park.

Its complex and irregular design had gently angled ‘cranked’ geometries (predominating in both the planning and the facade treatment of the various buildings and the winter gardens that surrounded and defined the open spaces) while a series of ‘shards’ provided vertical accents.

Interconnected laneways and stairways and the winter garden connects Flinders Street to the Yarra River. The open square, arranged as a gently sloping amphitheater, is focused on a large viewing screen for public events, with a secondary sloped plaza area on the main corner.

The 1.3 m. high bronze statue of the Fearless Girl by Kristen Visbal

Federation Square: intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Ian Potter Center: NGV Australia (Melbourne)

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Ian Potter Centre – NGV Australia

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, an  art gallery that houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is a legacy of the businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Potter. It presents the story of Australian art through a comprehensive program of temporary exhibitions and extensive displays.

Check out “Federation Square”

Museum entrance

The country’s first public art museum dedicated to Australian art, it houses one of the oldest and most well known art collections in the country and has almost 25,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles.

Museum lobby

At one time, approximately 800 works are displayed in the new building and many of these are rotated frequently to show the full breadth and diversity of Australian art, and to provide visitors with fresh insights. The NGV’s international works are displayed at the NGV International on St Kilda Road.

The author at the museum

The collection, also acknowledging the power, primacy and cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, presents some of Indigenous art’s major historical and contemporary works. The collection includes works in a range of media by male and female artists, including William Barak, Judy Watson, Emily Kngwarray and Uta Uta Tjangala.

Autumn Memories (Frederick McCubbin)

Well-known and superb works featured at the Ian Potter Centre include  non-Indigenous art, from the Colonial period to the present day, including some of the genre’s most iconic paintings such as Frederick McCubbin‘s poignant triptych The Pioneer (1904), Tom Roberts‘ Shearing the Rams (1890), and works from Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Arthur Streeton, John Perceval, Margaret Preston, Bill Henson, Howard Arkley and Fred Williams.

The Bathers (E. Phillips Fox)

The Ian Potter Centre, designed by Lab Architecture Studio in association with Bates Smart of Melbourne, headed by Peter Davidson and Donald Bates, has earned the designers the RAIA National Award for Interior Architecture as well as the Marion Mahony Interior Architecture Award.

Black Sun (Inge King)

There was plenty to see in the normal free exhibitions so, unless you have a particular interest in the special ones, you’ll still see lots and enjoy the visit.

Faun and Nymph (Rayner Hoff, bronze)

As we arrived just a little over an hour before closing time during our visit, we just saw the free exhibits which were Lucy McRae Body Architect, Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic, Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou, Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV, Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist, The Joseph Brown Collection, Civilization: The Way We Live Now, 20th Century Australian Art and Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art.

Check out “Lucy McRae Body Architect Exhibit,” “Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic Exhibit,” “Olympia: Photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou Exhibit,” “Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV Exhibit,” “Roger Kemp: Visionary Modernist Exhibit,” The Joseph Brown Collection Exhibit,” “Civilization: The Way We Live Now Exhibit,” “20th Century Australian Art Exhibit” and “Late 20th and 21st Century Australian Art Exhibit.”

Marking Time: Indigenous Art From the NGV (Level 3, August 17, 20 19 – June 14, 2020) explores drawings and markings of figures, signs or text made on public surfaces across Indigenous Australia, from rock face to now.

Marking Time

Reko Rennie and Brook Andrew translated incisions, on carved trees or shields, into bold neon icons, whereas Josh Muir and Hannah Brontë used video art to communicate voices of dissent, create dialogue between groups and to effect change.

Marking Time

The Joseph Brown Collection (Level 2) displays the outstanding private collection of Australian art of artist, soldier, scholar, connoisseur, successful businessman and art dealer Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, donated in May 2004, the most generous single gift of works of art ever made to a public gallery in Australia.

The Joseph Brown Collection

The Joseph Brown Collection

Civilization: The Way We Live Now (Ground Level, September 13, 2019 – February 2, 2020), an international photography exhibition of monumental scale, exhibits over 200 original photographs of over 100 contemporary photographers from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Civilization – The Way We Live Now

In this increasingly globalized world, the exhibition explores photographers’ representations of life in cities as its key theme and presents a journey through the shared aspects of life in the urban environment.

Bryan, Cheska and Kyle at the Civilization: The Way We Live Now exhibit

The modern and bright Crossbar Café, on Level 3, has lovely views of the Yarra River.

White Sacred Baboon (Brett Whiteley)

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia: Federation Square, Flinders St. and Russell St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Open daily, 10 AM- 5 PM. Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday. Admission to the permanent collection is free. Fees may apply to special exhibitions, as advertized. Tel: 8620 2222. E-mail: enquiries@ngv.vic.gov.au. Website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au.

State Library Victoria (Melbourne, Australia)

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State Library Victoria

On our fifth day in Melbourne, the first item in our city tour itinerary was the nearby State Library Victoria, the state‘s premier reference and research library, a gateway to the world’s information and a Melbourne landmark and cultural icon.

The library, located in the northern center of the central business district, comprises 23 individual buildings ((including the magnificent, 19th century building) and occupies an entire city block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets.

The Classic colonnade completed in 1870. In front is the statue of Sir Redmond Barry

During our visit, the grassy lawn, in front of the library’s grand entrance along Swanston Street, was filled the city’s workers and students from the adjacent RMIT University.  Originally, the lawn was enclosed by a picket fence and, in the 1870s, by a wrought iron fence and gates.  In 1939, with the removal of the fence and the creation of diagonal paths, the space was opened up and is now a popular lunch-spot.

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this library:

  • It is Australia’s oldest public library
  • The Melbourne Public Library, as it was then known, was one of the first free libraries in the world,, open to anyone over 14 years of age, so long as they had clean hands.
  • It also houses some of the original armor of Ned Kelly.
  • As a result of the 1990 to 2004 redevelopment, the State Library Victoria can now be considered one of the largest exhibiting libraries in the world.
  • On completion, the dome of the Domed Reading Room was the largest in the world.
  • The library forecourt, a popular location for protest meetings and a rallying point for marches, is also the site of a speakers’ forum where orators, on Sundays, between 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM, take turns in speaking on various subjects.
  • The exterior of the library is prominently featured at the conclusion of the post-World War III movie On the Beach.

The Library’s vast collection includes more than five million items, reflecting the culture of Victoria over the past 150 years. There are over two million books and more than a million photographs; journals and magazines; manuscripts; maps; hundreds of thousands of newspapers, with a special focus on material from Victoria, including the diaries of the city’s founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and the folios of Captain James Cook.

They also house audio, video and digital material.  The complex of buildings that now houses the Library were built in numerous stages, housing various library spaces, art galleries and museum displays.

Many of the library’s electronic databases, including the full Encyclopædia Britannica; Oxford Reference dictionaries and encyclopedias; multi-subject magazine and journal article databases; newspaper archives of most major Australian and international papers from 2000 onwards; and specialist subject databases, are available from home to any Victorian registered as a State Library User.

Sir Redmond Barry (John Botterill, 1875)

The library’s collection includes 70,000 photographs in 2,000 rolls of film containing photographs of Melbourne and country Victoria from the early 1970s that are in the process of being digitized and made available to the public.

Charles La Trobe (Sir Francis Grant)

Here is the historical timeline of the library:

  • In 1853, at the instigation of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe and  Justice Redmond Barry, Q.C. (Sir Redmond from 1860), the decision to build a combined library, museum and gallery was made. A competition was held, won by the recently arrived architect Joseph Reed, whose firm and its successors went on to design most of the later extensions, as well as numerous 19th-century landmarks such as the Melbourne Town Hall, and the Royal Exhibition Building.
  • On July 3, 1854, the recently inaugurated Governor Sir Charles Hotham laid the foundation stone of both the new library complex and the University of Melbourne.
  • On February 11, 1856, the library’s first stage (the central part of the Swanston Street wing) was opened with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr. Justice Barry, the President of Trustees.
  • On May 1856, Augustus H. Tulk, the first librarian, was appointed.
  • In 1860, Joseph Reed designed a grand complex for the whole block including a domed section facing Russell Street to house the Museum and Gallery.
  • In 1859, the south part of the front wing, including the elaborate first floor Queen’s Reading Room (now Queen’s Hall), was opened.
  • In 1864, the northern part, added by Abraham Linacre, was completed.
  • In 1866, a number of halls, just behind the front wing and meant to be temporary, were built for the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia. They remained in use until 1909.
  • In 1870, the classical portico was completed.
  • In 1886, Barry Hall, along Little Lonsdale Street, was completed.
  • In 1887, a memorial statue of Mr Justice Sir Redmond Barry, C., by James Gilbert and built by Percival Ball, was installed on the central landing of the main stairs.
  • In 1889, the National Museum of Victoria moved to library site.
  • In 1889, the statue of Saint George and the Dragon (flanking the entrance plaza), by the English sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, was installed.
  • In 1892,the McCoy Hall, now the Redmond Barry Reading Room, was completed
  • In 1907, the statue of Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), a replica of the statue by French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet, was installed.
  • In 1909, work began on the library’s famed Domed Reading Room
  • In 1909, the Baldwin Spencer Hall, facing Russell Street, was completed.
  • In 1913, the Domed Reading Room was opened
  • In 1932, the McAllan Gallery, along the LaTrobe Street side, was completed.
  • In 1937, due to deterioration, a pair of bronze lions flanking the entry from the 1860s, were removed.
  • In 1959, due to water leakage, the dome’s skylights were covered in copper sheets, creating the dim atmosphere that characterized the Library for decades.
  • In 1968, the National Gallery of Victoria moved to its new purpose built home in St Kilda Road
  • In 1971, the Lending Library closed.
  • From 1990 to 2004, the library underwent an approximately A$200 million major refurbishment designed by architects Ancher Mortlock & Woolley. It included the creation of a number of exhibition spaces, some of which are used to house permanent exhibitions – “The Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas,” “The Changing Face of Victoria” and the “Pictures Collection” (Cowen Gallery).
  • In 1992, the library finally filled the entire block
  • In 1998, the World War I commemorative statues “Wipers” and “The Driver,” at the center points of the 1939 diagonal paths, were relocated to the ground of the Shrine of Remembrance.
  • From 1999-2002, during renovations of its buildings, National Galley of Victoria returned to its original library home briefly, occupying the Russell Street halls.
  • In 1999, the reading room closed to allow for renovation, when the skylights were reinstated.
  • In 2003, the renamed La Trobe Reading Room was reopened.
  • In February 2010, the southern wing of the library, along Little Lonsdale Street, was reopened as the Wheeler Centre, part of Melbourne’s city of literature
  • In 2006, a statue of Charles La Trobe, by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett, was installed in the north east corner of the lawn.
  • In 2015, better meet the changing needs of the community, the Library embarked on a five-year, $88.1 million redevelopment project (Vision 2020), designed by Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Australian architecture and design studio Architectus, to transform its public spaces, programs and facilities.
  • On April 29, 2015, Martin Foley (Minister for Creative Industries) announced that the 2015–16 State Budget would provide $55.4 million towards the redevelopment of State Library Victoria, including the restoration of the Queen’s Hall, the creation of a rooftop garden terrace, a dedicated children’s and youth space, and the opening up 40% more of the building to the public.
  • In late 2017, the library’s contribution of $27 million from donations was eventually raised.
  • In September 2018, the main Swanston Street entrance was temporarily closed and replaced by the newly refurbished Russell Street and La Trobe Street entrances.

Check out “Shrine of Remembrance” and “Royal Exhibition Building“

Grace exploring Victoria Gallery

Upon entry, the first area we visited was the newly refurbished Victoria Gallery.  The interactive Velvet, Iron, Ashes exhibition, opened on October 24, 2019, was ongoing (until July 12, 2020).

Centenary of Victoria Costume

Its showcases more than 200 items from the Library’s own collection plus additions from other major institutions and private collections. The exhibition was open to all ages and free to attend.

Ned Kelly’s Armor

Here, we learned some illustrious stories about Ned Kelly, the Ashes Urn (exclusively loaned from Marylebone Cricket Club in London and displayed from November 2019 until February 2020), Yallourn Power Station and even Nappie Wash, how fairy floss is linked to fancy dress, how the Freddo the Frog is tied to one of the greatest air races in history, and what the Ashes Urn and Ned Kelly’s armor have in common.

Map-O-Matic device in the foreground

A retro-style Map-o-Matic device, which allows visitors to print out a map, opened up a world of storytelling to a new generation of Victorians.

North Rotunda

At the North Rotunda are exhibits (September 2, 2019-September 2, 2020) of a selection of the Library’s 21st-century paintings, by living Australian artists, of Melbourne cityscapes.

Across the city, Rick Amor’s work, shows distant views of the city from remote hills, the Yarra River and docklands, and across rooftops. Abstracted views of urban sites and landmarks, which provoke reflection on our interaction with the built environment, are presented by Tony Lloyd’s Skystone, William Mackinnon’s Exit and Louise Forthun’s Toffee and Ice.

Exit (William Mackinnon)

Toffee and Ice (Louise Forthun)

There are also depictions of Melbourne’s hallowed sporting grounds – Josie Kunoth Petyarre’s view of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, the home of Australian Rules Football, Shane Jones’s Flemington Racecourse (showing the birthplace of the internationally renowned Melbourne Cup horse race), etc..

Cowen Gallery

The Cowen Gallery, refreshed In 2018, features a permanent display of more than 40 works of art from the State Library’s 2003–18 Cowen Gallery exhibition, which included colonial and modern portraits, paintings of Victorian landscapes, iconic Melbourne landmarks and artists’ impressions of events from Victoria’s history.

Black Thursday (William Strutt)

The rehung exhibition includes a greater representation of 20th-century artists such as Eric Thake, Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams and Juan Davila. The northern end of the room is framed by William Strutt’s Black Thursday  February 6th, 1851 (1864) and Juan Davila’s Churchill National Park  (2009) while the southern end of the room features Reinhold Hofmann’s Melbourne 1836  (c. 1886) and Jan Senbergs’  Melbourne 1998-99 which explores the city and urbanization. 

Churchill National Park (Juan Davila)

The adjacent Blue and Red Rotundas house portraits and busts of Victorians. 

Redmond Barry Reading Room

The Redmond Barry Reading Room, at the eastern end of the Library, is easily the busiest room during pre-exam period in Victoria. It houses a contemporary collection of books, magazines, and periodicals. The center of the room has internet-enabled computers and shared desks while the mezzanine has folio-size books and more independent study desks. The ceiling has glass panels.

The Heritage Collections Reading Room (HCRR), though it does not hold any collections (save for map bags consisting of copies of maps of Metropolitan Melbourne, between the 1800s to 1900s), is a place to view heritage collection materials. Entry here is by appointment (however, no appointment is required to see the maps). It has 14 historical pendant lamps hanging off the ceiling plus a detailed ceramic embossed wall and ceiling.

The Heritage Collections Reading Room

The Arts Collection Reading Room, built in a courtyard (hence the angular shape of the room), maintains an extensive, world-class collection of books, periodicals, recordings and other materials pertaining to art, music and the performing arts.  The main room, housing computer workstations (which provide access to the Library’s catalog, databases and the web), reading tables, laser printer, photocopier and a microfiche reader, also has an audio visual room and listening posts.

The Herald and Weekly Times Newspaper Reading Room

The Genealogy Reading Room, located in one of the courtyards, has an extensive collection of microfilms and microfiche, printed references, databases, and biographies. There are many facilities available such as computers and a laser printer.

The Herald and Weekly Times Newspaper Reading Room

The Newspaper Reading Room, located in one of the courtyards, keeps three months’ worth of physical copies of Victorian newspapers; holds microfilm of Victorian, interstate, and some international newspapers; and has modern microfilm and scanner readers (enabling patrons to save images of newspapers to USB memory stick) and facilities to help with research.

La Trobe Reading Room

Our visit to the library was highlighted by the landmark La Trobe Reading Room (formerly the Domed Reading Room). Designed by Norman G. Peebles of Bates Smart, it houses the Library’s Australiana collection, previously in the 1965 La Trobe Building annex.

The dome and its oculus

Its octagonal space, designed to hold over a million books and up to 600 readers, is 34.75 m. in both diameter and height, and its oculus is nearly 5 m. wide. The balconies overlooking the beautiful La Trobe Reading Room have now been transformed into exhibition areas.

Jandy and Grace at The Changing Face of Victoria exhibit

At the Changing Face of Victoria, in the Dome Galleries, Level 5, we explored the state’s history, discovering the people, places and events that have shaped Victoria.

Here, we encountered explorers, gain insights into life on the goldfields, and explore life in Victoria in the 20th and 21st centuries from Bells Beach to Black Saturday. Twice yearly, new items and stories are added to this exhibition, revealing different aspects of the Library’s historic collection.

Death Mask of Ned Kelly

Just one level below is the World of the Book, Australia’s largest exhibition dedicated to books that celebrates the unique place books have in our hearts and minds.  This one-of-a-kind exhibition showcased the history of book design, production and illustration, from the Middle Ages to today.

World of the Book

Here, we saw rare medieval manuscripts and sacred texts, magnificent natural history and botanical illustration, stunning modern artist books and fine press editions, as well as pioneering Australian classics, children’s books, graphic novels and comics.

Australian Gothic – Picnic at Hanging Rock

The Books and Ideas section exhibits medieval manuscripts and early printed books; sacred texts from around the world and from different religious traditions;, key works of astronomy, and a special display exploring the historical “restricted books” section of the State Library Victoria.

Religions of the Book

The Books and imagination section displays famous works from the literary canon, including the Second Folio of William Shakespeare’s plays (1632); modernist masterpieces by Virginia Woolf, countercultural classics from the New Journalism group of American writers; the writings of Australian author Gerald Murnane, and 1960s Western pulp fiction.

Pulp Fiction

The Exploring the World section features atlases, maps and travel journals from European voyages of discovery, from the 16th century onwards, with a special focus on mythical animals and costumes of the world; and richly illustrated works of natural history, including a special display called “The Mystery of the Missing Beetles,” a detective story uniting the collections of this library and Museums Victoria.

Recording Nature

The Art and Nature section displays botanical art and landscape design from the 16th century to today, with a special focus on the work of female Australian botanical artists.

The John Emmerson Collection

The Artist and Books section includes fine bindings from the John Emmerson Collection, Japanese woodblock printed books about textiles, glamorous Art Deco graphic design, contemporary Australian photo books, and archival material from the Wayzgoose Press Archive, an Australian fine press.

The Art of the Book in Japan

The South Rotunda (formerly Blue Rotunda), built in 1928, is an intimate gallery space that was formerly part of the McArthur Gallery (now the Newspapers and Family History Reading Rooms), linking to the Cowen Gallery.  It hosts small exhibitions and provides access to both the Heritage Collections Reading Room and the Newspapers and Family History Reading Rooms.

South Rotunda

The current exhibition during our visit was Peter Wille: Out Driving, a photographic survey of Melbourne’s modernist architecture from the 1950s and ’60s.  Wille amassed a collection of more than 6,000 color photographs of Melbourne’s architectural wonders throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibition includes works by groundbreaking architects Robin Boyd, Peter McIntyre, Kevin Borland, and John and Phillis Murphy. The exhibit runs from December 1, 2018 –  April 30, 2020.

State Library Victoria: 328 Swanton St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: 8664 7000.  E-mail: inquiries@slv.vic.gov.au. Website: www.slv.vic.gov.au.  Open Mondays to Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM, and Fridays to Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM. Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Fitzroy Gardens (Melbourne, Australia)

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Fitzroy Gardens

After the 6 PM mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we all walked to the nearby 26-hectare (64-acre) Fitzroy Garden. Located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District, the gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and Wellington Parade with the Treasury Gardens, across Lansdowne Street, to the west.

Named after Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, a governor (1846-51) of New South Wales and Governor-General of the Australian Colonies (1851-1855), it is one of the major Victorian era landscaped gardens in Australia, adding to Melbourne‘s claim to being the garden city of Australia.

An avenue lined with English elm trees (Ulmus procera)

Here’s the historical timeline of the gardens:

  • In 1848, the 26 hectares (64 acres) of Fitzroy Gardens were permanently reserved as public gardens, with title shared by the State Government and City of Melbourne.
  • In 1856, Edward LaTrobe Bateman was commissioned to produce designs for the garden
  • In 1857, James Sinclair was appointed head gardener.  He worked in the gardens until his death in 1881.
  • In 1858, the border of Fitzroy Square was planted with gum trees and wattles.
  • In 1860, responsibility for Fitzroy Gardens was taken over by the Lands Department.
  • In 1862, a path network was established and a Neo-Classical band pavilion was built near Grey Street entry.  The name of the gardens was also officially changed from Fitzroy Square to Fitzroy Gardens. The path system was also firmly established.
  • In 1864, the small Tudor-style gate keepers lodge was built on the southwest corner.  Four fountains and statuary were also added.
  • In 1865, five gas lamps were installed along main path
  • In 1866, Sinclair’s Cottage was on the main walk
  • In 1873, the “Temple of Winds,” a Neo-Classical rotunda, was built
  • In 1880, many of the blue gum trees were removed, to create more room for existing trees as well as sweeping lawns and ornamental flowerbeds.
  • In 1890, every alternate elm tree on the Avenues was removed
  • In 1897, Lombardy Poplar Walk was planted in line with George Street
  • In 1901, the nursery and stable yard were transferred, from the center of the gardens, to its present site
  • In 1902, Pine Avenue along Grey Street walk was removed
  • In 1908, the original, timber-style kiosk was opened in the center of the gardens. Development of “Mound” in center of gardens was also planted with rhododendrons.
  • In 1915, the external picket fence was replaced by stone edging
  • In 1917, control of gardens passed onto the City of Melbourne
  • In the 1920s, a dining room was added to the kiosk
  • In 1921, work was started on pollarding the Elm Avenue.
  • In 1922, large number of stone pines along Clarendon and Albert Streets were removed.
  • In 1923, advanced specimens of Moreton Bay figs along Wellington Parade were removed
  • In 1927, the plant managers’ house was built
  • On March 13, 1930, the conservatory for displaying glass-house plants was opened
  • In 1934, Cooks’ Cottage was erected after being bought, shipped to Australia and donated by the Grimwade family.
  • In May 1934, artist Ola Cohn completes carving the Fairies Tree and donates it to the children of Melbourne.
  • In 1960, the kiosk was damaged by fire and later demolished
  • In the 1960s, the central section of the creek was piped underground
  • In 1964, the new brick kiosk was opened
  • In the 1970s, the eighteenth century cottage garden was added to Cooks’ Cottage
  • In 2014, an area previously used for depot activities was reclaimed as garden space.

The land on which the garden was built was originally swampy, with a creek draining into the Yarra River. The garden, initially designed by Clement Hodgkinson, was planted by James Sinclair, the park gardener, as a dense woodland with meandering avenues.

The creek, used for the irrigation of the western side of the gardens for fifty years, was landscaped with ferns and 130 willows but this did not stop it from smelling foul from the sewage from the houses of East Melbourne.

Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) is a large, massive and heavily branched spreading tree native to Queensland and New South Wales. This fast growing shade tree, 15-20 m. high, has large leaves and oval, glossy fruit.

In the early 1900s, the creek water substantially improved with the installation of sewerage mains to the residences of East Melbourne.

An ornamental lake

In the early years, to provide wind breaks, quick growing blue gums and wattles were planted while elm trees were planted to create avenues along pathways which, unknowingly, created a pattern resembling the Union Flag. With the creation of new planting in areas like the Mound and the Grey Street Walk, sub tropical planting became a feature of the gardens.

The Dolphin Fountain, installed at the northern end of the lake, adjacent to the Mound, was sculpted by June Arnold and consists of a pyramid of granite boulders upon which are mounted assorted sea creatures – dolphins, octopus, crabs, sea birds, sea horses, starfish, turtles and shrimps. Wealthy benefactors Dinah and Henry Krongold donated $30,000 towards the construction of the fountain and the architectural consultants were Perrott, Lyon and Mathieson.

The trees that line many of the pathways are the most notable feature of the gardens. The gardens, home to rainbow lorikeets, ducks, brushtail and ringtail possums, and microbats (small insect eating bats), are visited at night by grey-headed flying foxes (a large nectar and fruit eating bat) and powerful owls. The presence of these Australian wildlife makes the city gardens especially enjoyable for overseas visitors and locals alike.

The old, square, Corinthian-style Bandstand, built adjacent to the Gipps Street entrance to the Gardens, is enclosed by a low iron fence. It was designed and erected by George Dodd in 1864 at a cost of 322 pounds.

Set within the garden are a visitor information center and cafe, a conservatory, Cooks’ Cottage, a model Tudor village, an ornamental lake, a scarred tree, tree-lined avenues, a band pavilion, a rotunda, the ” Ola Cohn’s Fairies’ Tree,” fountains and sculptures.

The “Temple of Winds,” a Neo-Classical rotunda, was built in 1873 by Thomas Julian and Co. at a cost of £275. The building consists of a domed concrete roof supported by ten Corinthian columns.

The River God Fountain, located at the north end of the gardens at the junction of paths facing south, was designed and cast in concrete by the sculptor, Charles Summers and was erected in the Fitzroy Gardens in 1862. Its central feature is a figure of a man on bended knee bearing an open clam shell on his shoulders.

The Ola Cohn’s Fairies’ Tree comprises a series of lovely carvings (fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, a marvelous jackass, koalas, flying foxes and a host of typical Australian animals and birds), done from 1931 to May 1934 (Victoria’s Centenary Year) by Miss Ola Cohn, on the stump of one of the original old red gum trees.

Fairies’ Tree

The trunk was extracted from the ground, in 1977, for chemical treatment and the removal of rotted wood. During the process, the mummified remains of an over 40 year old brush tail possum was found, perfectly preserved within the trunk. To prolong its life, the tree was remounted on a concrete base.

The Conservatory

The Conservatory, one of Melbourne’s favorite tourist attractions, was opened on March 13, 1930 and provides 5 separate, spectacular floral displays each year.

The Conservatory Fountain (Boy with Serpent), a cast-iron ornamental fountain located near the rear entrance, features a snake coiled around the figure of a boy, atop a granite shaped ball.

Hydrangea and Fuchsias are in Display 1 (November – February); Tuberous Begonia and Gloxinia in Display 2 (February – April); Tropical and Poinsettia in Display 3 (April – July); Cineraria and Cyclamen in Display 4 (July – September); and Schizanthus and Calceolaria in Display 5 (September – November).

The Conservatory’s interior

Built in the Spanish Mission architectural style, it measures 30 x 15 m. and originally cost 4,000 pounds.

Cook’s Cottage

Cooks’ Cottage, which originally stood on an extremity of the village of Great Ayton, Yorkshire, England, was built, rebuilt or bought by Cook’s father in 1755. However, from the date 1755 and the initials of James and Grace (Cook’s mother and father) over the doorway, it is apparent that it is older than the rest of the cottage and it would seem that the cottage was rebuilt, and not originally built by Cook’s father when he bought it.

The Great Ayton family cottage is the only concrete historical link we have with Captain James Cook‘s origins (the original thatched cottage in which Cook was born at Marton-in-Cleveland was demolished in 1786) as it is possible that, during his boyhood years from 1736 until 1745, Captain Cook lived in the cottage. In the winter of 1771/72, on his return from the Australia voyage, he also spent some time with his father in the cottage.

The bronze statue of Captain James Cook sculpted by Englishman Marc Clark in 1973

In 1933, the last owner of the cottage, Mrs. Dixon put the cottage up for sale and the prominent Melbournian Russell Grimwade agreed to buy the cottage and present it as a gift to the Victorian people as an ideal focus piece for Victoria’s centenary in 1934. Grimwade dismantled and shipped the cottage to Melbourne in 253 packing cases, arriving in April 1934.

The garden

As research and guess work would permit, the cottage was accurately restored to its mid 18th century appearance and completed in six months.  A site in the Fitzroy Gardens, with its large shady European trees, was selected to complement the cottage. On October 15, 1934, during a centenary ceremony, the cottage was handed over to the Lord Mayor, H. Gengoult Smith by Russell Grimwade.  The cottage has undergone two restorations in the late 1950’s and the most recent in 1978.

The Model Tudor Village

The Village, situated in the center of the Fitzroy Gardens, was one of three such villages modeled in cement, as a hobby, by the 77 year old Mr. Edgar Wilson, a pensioner who lived in Hamilton Road, Norwood, London, England. In appreciation of Melbourne’s generosity in sending food to Britain during the World War II, one of them was presented to the City of Melbourne through the City of Lambeth, England and was officially opened, on May 21, 1948, by the Right Honorable Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councilor Sir Raymond Connelly.

The delightful village, representing a typical Kentish village built during the “Tudor” period of English history, is composed of models of various thatched cottages, a village church, school, hotel, barns, stocks, pump, a scale model of Shakespeare’s home and Anne Hathaway’s cottage, and all public buildings.

Pavilion Cafe

The Italian Romanesque-style, single storey Sinclair’s cottage, a polychrome brick gardener’s cottage located on the main Elm Avenue, was designed by Melbourne architect Francis Maloney White. It was built in 1866 by Thomas Crowson at a cost of 520 pounds.

Sinclair’s House

This house has a gabled entrance porch with overhanging eaves; walls of alternating cream and red brickwork (with cream as the dominant color) and two notable stripped chimneys, built in alternating red and cream brickwork courses, which dominate the roof.

Sinclair’s House

The stables at the back repeat, in a much simpler fashion, the fine details of the main house.

Visitor’s Center

A café and visitor center provides tourism information about Melbourne as well as specific information and services for Cooks’ Cottage and Fitzroy Gardens.

The Children’s Playground, located on the south side of the Grey Street herbaceous border, has a 20-ton sculpted concrete dragon as its centerpiece. The dragon is 7 m. long and 3 m. wide and was sculpted by Martin Moore, Gary Tippet and Aaron Beaucaire from Mothers Art. It was built using a steel frame with a reinforced concrete base.

Fitzroy Gardens: Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, Victoria, 3002, Australia Opening Hours: Open 24 hours; closed from October 28 to November 1.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Melbourne, Australia)

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral

The first and only mass we attended in Melbourne was, fittingly, at the Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of St. Patrick (colloquially St. Patrick’s Cathedral), near Fitzroy Park, located on Eastern Hill, in an area bounded by Albert Street, Gisborne Street, Lansdowne Street and Cathedral Place. Just to the east, across Gisborne Street is St Peter’s Church, the Anglican parish church of Melbourne constructed from 1846 to 1848.

Check out “Fitzroy Park”

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the cathedral:

  • Although its 103.6-m. (340 ft.) length is marginally shorter than that of St Mary’s Cathedral (Sydney), St Patrick’s has the distinction of being both the tallest and, overall, the largest church building in Australia.
  • It the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and seat of its archbishop (currently Peter Comensoli).
  • Since the Catholic community of Melbourne was, at the time of it construction, almost entirely Irish, the cathedral was dedicated to St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
  • William Wardell, Melbourne’s foremost ecclesiastical architect, was commissioned to prepare plans for the cathedral. A remarkably ambitious and capable architect, he went on to design the second St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney in a similar style, even larger than St Patrick’s, but with a completely English square East End.
  • St Patrick’s Cathedral was one of the two largest churches (the other is St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, United States) brought to substantial completion anywhere in the world in the 19th century.
  • The bells of the cathedral are unusual in that they were cast unturned (they ring anti-clockwise instead of clockwise) and are thought to be the only ring of eight bells cast by John Murphy of Dublin which are still in operation today.
  • The 1992 – 1997 restoration works were awarded the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Victorian Chapter) John George Knight Award for Heritage Architecture 1996.
  • One of the gargoyles, restored by the masonry team, was modeled on the then-Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett as the previous gargoyle apparently had striking similarities.

Check out “St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York City)”

The Geometric Decorated Gothic-style facade

The cathedral, planned is in the style of a Latin cross, is built on a traditional east–west axis, with the altar at the eastern end (symbolizing belief in the resurrection of Christ).

The cathedral interior

It consists of a nave with side aisles, transepts with side aisles, seven chapels grouped in a semicircle around the central sanctuary, and sacristies. It was built in stages, between 1858 and 1940.

Apse: Its ceiling, vaulted in timber, has a Latin quotation from the book of Revelations carved around the base

Here is the historical timeline of the cathedral:

  • In 1848, negotiations with the colonial government for the grant of five acres of land for a church in the Eastern Hill area began.
  • On April 1, 1851, only 16 years after the foundation of Melbourne, the Colonial Secretary of Victoria finally granted the site to the Roman Catholic Church. Augustinian friar James Goold, the first bishop of Melbourne and the fourth bishop in Australia (after Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide) decided to build his cathedral on the Eastern Hill site.
  • In 1851-1852, when Bishop Goold visited Europe, he bought a peal of eight bells for £500 (with some records showing that it cost £700) for the cathedral.
  • In 1853, the bells arrived in Australia
  • On December 8, 1858, William Wardell was commissioned to plan the cathedral and that same year, its foundation stone was laid and building commenced. An earlier building, by stonemason David Mitchell (father of operatic soprano Nellie Melba and later partner of John Monash), was demolished for the cathedral.
  • On November 29,1868, the bells, hung in a low frame at ground level in the western aisle, were consecrated by Bishop Goold in a service attended by around 5,000 people. The bells were eventually hung at the south-eastern tower.
  • Before 1868, the original front entrance, with a double-arched doorway and a pillar dividing it, was removed.
  • In 1869, the nave and aisles were opened.
  • In 1871, the ringers of St Patrick’s began the custom of ringing in the New Year.
  • By the 1880s, St Patrick’s Cathedral became the leading tower for Australian change ringing.
  • In 1891, a severe depression which hit Melbourne further delayed the construction.
  • On May 30, 1891, the statue of Catholic emancipator Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) by sculptor Sir Thomas Brock, was erected by public subscription and unveiled.
  • In 1897, under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Carr, the remainder of the cathedral itself and the sacristy were completed and consecrated.
  • In 1914, the bells were rung for the requiem mass of Pope Pius X
  • In the late 1930s, Daniel Mannix (Archbishop of Melbourne in 1917) oversaw the addition of the spires and other elements.
  • From 1936-40, the spires (higher than Wardell originally intended) and confessional were added and the west door rebuilt.
  • In 1939, the building was officially completed.
  • By 1959, the belfry fell into disrepair and the bells became unringable.
  • In 1974, Pope Paul VI conferred the title and dignity of minor basilica on it.
  • In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral and addressed clergy during his Papal Visit.
  • In 1988, as the major Victorian project among Bicentennial bell restorations, the cathedral’s peal was sent to Eayre and Smith Bell foundry in England.
  • On December 8,1988, the peals and an added ninth bell (Angelus bell), was consecrated. An electronic chiming mechanism was also installed, at this time, for all the bells with the original manual method retained in order to replicate how the bells would have sounded if they were rung by hand.
  • From 1992 till 1997 (the centenary of its consecration), the cathedral was closed and significant restoration and conservation works were undertaken under the guidance of Falkinger Andronas Architects and Heritage Consultants. Funds were contributed by the federal and Victorian governments, corporate and philanthropic donors and the community of Melbourne. Nothing was added to the main building.
  • From 1996-97, the organ was refurbished for the centenary of the cathedral.
  • In March 1999, the statue of Dr. Daniel Mannix (long-serving former Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne) by English sculptor Nigel Boonham, was unveiled.

Central Sanctuary

The cathedral, designed specifically in the Geometric Decorated Gothic style, in response to the revival of Gothic architecture (as promoted by Augustus Welby Pugin and others as the most appropriate for the building of churches), was based on the great medieval cathedrals of England.

West Wall

This style is at its most complex in the large west window of the nave.

South Transept

North Transept: its north wall shows four of the Stations of the Cross

The eastern arm, with its chevet of radiating chapels in the French manner, is still principally in the English Gothic style of the late Thirteenth Century (giving the most complete essay attempted in that style during the Nineteenth Century).

Blessed Sacrament Chapel: located closest to the North Transept, its altar reredos has two mosaics depicting the “Sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac” and of “Abraham and Melchisedech.” The tabernacle, made in 1900, features a pelican ( a symbol of Christ) motif, representing the Eucharist.

Sacred Heart Chapel: Originally designated to be the organ and choir gallery, this chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (after the arrival of a Sacred Heart statue from Germany in 1874), has a Sacred Heart statue in the center of reredos and surrounded by relief carvings of the Nativity and the Last Supper. Below are carvings of “The Crowning with Thorns” and “The Agony in the Garden” and a carved inscription “Cor Jesus, Thronus Misericordiae” (Heart of Jesus, Throne of Mercy). The altar is made of alabaster. Its frontal features carvings of Jesus before Pilate and the scourging at the pillar. The tabernacle door is inscribed with the words ‘Cor Jesus, Salue in Te sperantium’ (Heart of Jesus, Salvation of those who hope in Thee).

The massive cathedral, made with bluestone (sourced from basalt deposits in nearby Footscray) and sandstone, is 103.6 m. (340 ft.) long on its long axis, 56.4 m. (185 ft.) wide across the transepts and 25.3 m. (83 ft.) wide across the nave.

South Aisle

The nave and transepts are 28.9 m. (95 ft.) high, the central spire 105 m. (344 ft.) high and the flanking towers and spires 61.9 m. (203 ft.) high.

St. Brigid and the Irish Saints Chapel: originally called the Chapel of the Irish Saints but later became known as the Children’s Chapel dedicated to St Brigid, children contributed to the cost of the chapel’s completion. On the archway over the chapel is inscribed a text from the 44th Psalm. The altar is constructed of alabaster, its frontal panel features small mosaics of St. Patrick and St. Columbanus. A marble statue of St. Brigid is located in the niche of the reredos. Carved images of four Irish saints (St. Dympna, St. Reyna, St. Ita and St. Bees), from the sixth and seventh centuries, are also represented in the reredos.

St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel

The 4.87 m. high and 3.65 m. wide front door has three columns, recessed and carved jambs with a Gothic arch crowned by a paneled, molded and carved gable finished with a carved cross.

Entrance doorway

Buttresses support the gables and these are topped with carved pinnacles and quatrefoil-paneled side parapets.  In 1974, the original gable was replaced by a carving of the Papal Coat of Arms when Pope Paul VI conferred the title and dignity of Minor Basilica on the Cathedral.

Icon of Madonna and Child

The archway, filled with a bronze tracery grill, features St. Patrick, with St. Brigid and St. Columba on either side. In the space between and above are the monograms of the Holy Name (IHS) and of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM).

Archbishop’s Memorial: located in the northern transept, plaques here commemorating Melbourne’s Archbishops, James Alpha Goold (1848 –1866), Thomas Joseph Carr (1886–1917), Daniel Mannix (1917–1963), Justin Daniel Simonds (1963–1967) and James Cardinal Knox (1967–1974). Archbishops Mannix and Simmonds and Cardinal Knox are buried in the vault beneath the floor of this transept.

It also features four angels and eight shields bearing symbols of the Old and the New Testaments: Noah’s Ark, the brazen serpent and the instruments of the Passion, the chalice and host, and Christ as the Lamb.

Statue of St. Mary MacKillop

The Lady Chapel: located directly behind the high altar, its foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Goold on September 8, 1879. Made of English red and white alabaster, its altar is 4.11 m. high and 2.36 m. wide and its front has three ornamented panels, in the center, a mosaic of the monogram of Our Lady with slightly smaller mosaic of Star of the Sea and of the Tower of David, titles given to Our Lady, on either side. The reredos have a molded canopied niche that features a marble statue of Our Lady with the title of Regina Coeli (“Queen of Heaven”). The panels, on either side of the reredos, have mosaics depicting the “Nativity of Our Lord” and “The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin.” Above the reredos are the words: “Mater Salvatoris, ora pro nobis” (“Mother of the Savior pray for us”).

On the panels of the gates of the grill are the coats of arms of Pope Pius XII (who was the reigning pontiff when the additions were installed) and of the first three archbishops of Melbourne.

Holy Soul’s Chapel: Originally known as the Mortuary Chapel, this chapel was dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Goold (who laid the first stone in 1880) who is buried beneath the chapel (a brass memorial plaque marks his resting place). On June 9, 1888, the first Mass in the newly finished chapel was offered by Archbishop Carr for the repose of the soul of his predecessor.

The majority of stained glass in the cathedral was done by Hardman of Birmingham, with two windows by Mayer of Munich and one by Montgomery.

Stained Glass Windows: Located in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, they depict “The Sacrifice of Melchizedech” and “The Last Supper.” Made in Munich for the 1881 Melbourne International Exhibition, they were purchased by Archbishop Goold.

The stenciling and painting of the sanctuary was done by Charles Firth, the carved altars by Farmer and Brindley, and the throne, credence tables, bishop’s chair and confessionals carved by C N Bell. The intended wall mosaics and paintings were not completed.

Painting of St. Ambrose: Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as St. Ambrose, was one of the four original doctors of the Church. He was born in Trier in 337 AD and died in Milan in 397 AD. St. Ambrose was an archbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century.

Painting of St. Augustine: On a column near the baptistery, this painting shows St Augustine with quill in hand.

The cathedral’s original pipe organ, built in the late 1870s by Robert Mackenzie to serve the liturgical needs of the cathedral (the organ is also occasionally used for recitals and recordings), was completed in 1880 by George Fincham.

Pipe Organ: built by George Fincham & Sons, Melbourne in 1962-64, it incorporates a substantial part of the instrument built in the west gallery of the cathedral in the late 1870s by Robert Mackenzie and completed in 1880 by George Fincham. Refurbished with additions by Australian Pipe Organs, Melbourne in 1996-97, it is used for occasional recitals and recordings, as well as serving the regular liturgical needs of the cathedral. The organ has 76 speaking stops involving almost 5000 pipes, 24 Spanish trumpets, and a four manual console.

The current installation in the west gallery of the cathedral, built by George Fincham & Sons, Melbourne, from 1962 – 1964, incorporates a substantial part of the original.  It comprises 81 speaking stops (some dated to 1880 or 1896, when the instrument was enlarged) spread over four manuals and pedals.

Baptismal Font: located in the northwest corner of the nave, it is made of soapstone and features symbolic representations of graces received through baptism. At the foot of the font are various grotesques, representing the devils cast out by baptism. A 17th century painting of “The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple” forms a backdrop.

The peal of eight bells, all cast by John Murphy of Dublin in 1852 and bearing the coat of arms of Bishop Goold, are in F natural, with the tenor weighing 12 long cwt 1 qr 10 lb (1,382 lbs. or 627 kgs.) and the treble 4 long cwt 12 qr 14 lb (798 lbs. or 362 kgs.). The peal set weights around 3,556 kgs. (7,840 lbs.).

Statue of Archbishop Daniel Mannix: this larger-than-life statue, sculpted by Nigel Bonnham, watches over the area in front of the cathedral’s main west entrance. It was during the his reign that the cathedral was finished. The three towers and spires were enlarged and completed in 1939, to the design of Conolly and Vanheems, to commemorate the centenary of Catholicism in Melbourne.

Statue of Daniel O’Connell: located around the north side, O’Connell is often referred to as The Liberator or The Emancipator, and was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He campaigned for Catholic Emancipation, including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, denied for over 100 years, and repeal of the Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland.

The Cathedral Shop, located adjacent to the Presbytery Office, offers a wide range of souvenirs, gifts, CDs, handcrafted items, rosary beads, fine cards and more.

Bust of Fr. George Preca. St. George Preca (1880 – 1962) was a Maltese Roamn Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine as well as a Third Order Carmelite. He is known as “Dun Ġorġ” in Maltese and Pope John Paul II dubbed him as the “Second Apostle of Malta.” Pope Pius XII, in 1952, titled him as a Monsignor despite his uneasiness about it. He had assumed the religious name of “Franco” after becoming a Secular Carmelite.

St. Patrick’s Pilgrim Path, a wide path to the south transept door on the southern approach to the cathedral, is divided by a delightful flow of water over a sequence of small drops. Created by Green and Dale Landscape Architects, its central concept is that of flowing water which cascades down the channel that divides the two sides of the stepped pathways that progress up the incline.

Gospel of St. John 4.14

Psalms of David 23

Salutary selections of quotations, cut with gold inlays into a number of blue stone structures, features quotations from James McAuley (one of Australia’s great poets), Gospel of St. John 4.14 (1st Century AD) and from Psalms of David 23.

Quotation from James McAuley

A giant bronze bowl, the origin of the water supply, contains a submerged golden image of “The Lamb.” Water here cascades in three directions onto the seven-stepped structure below. Around the bowl’s rim are inscribed verses from the Book of Apocalypse.

Bronze bowl with submerged image of The Lamb

Verses from the Book of Apocalype

Around the path are statues of St. Francis of Assisi (c 1181-1226) and St. Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), both sculpted by Louis Lauman, a Melbourne based artist.

Statue of St. Catherine of Siena: Located opposite the statue of St Francis, it depicts Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380) holding up a crown of thorns. Sculpted by the Melbourne – based artist Louis Lauman.

Statue of St. Francis of Assisi: this Italian Catholic friar and preacher founded the men’s Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis for men and women not able to live the lives of itinerant preachers followed by the early members of the Order of Friars Minor or the monastic lives of the Poor Clares. Though he was never ordained to the Catholic priesthood, St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

These were blessed and dedicated by Archbishop George Pell on December 17, 2000 in the presence of Sir James Gobbo, the Governor of Victoria, and his wife, Lady Gobbo.

Jandy and Grace at the Pilgrim Path

Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of St. Patrick:  1 Cathedral Place, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia. Tel: 9662 2332.  E-mail: cathedral@cam.org.au.  Open Mondays to Fridays, 9 AM – 5 PM. Masses: Saturday – 8 AM, 6 PM (Vigil), Sundays – 8 AM, 9.30 AM, 11 AM (Solemn Mass), 6.30 PM, Weekdays – 7 AM, 1 PM. The Cathedral Shop is open Mondays to Fridays, 9.30 AM to 4.30 PM, and Sundays, 8.30 AM to 1 PM.