| Melbourne is the second-largest
city in Australia and the capital of the south-eastern
state of Victoria. Located on the southern coast of Australia’s
eastern seaboard, it is considered by many to be one Australia’s
most cultured cities, the exclusive title to which Melbourne
vies for with its great rival Sydney. The city’s
features include Victorian-era architecture, many cultural
institutions such as museums, galleries and theaters,
and large parks and gardens. Melbourne's 3.8 million population
is both multicultural (with large Greek, Italian, Jewish,
Vietnamese and other immigrant communities) and sports-mad.
Australia's second largest city, Melbourne
is a vast sprawl of suburbs, spreading southwards along
the shoreline of Port Philip Bay, east towards the Dandenong
Ranges, westwards towards the city of Geelong and northwards
towards the plains of central Victoria.
Like any large city, Melbourne is divided
up into many suburbs - not all will be of interest to
travellers.
NB: The districts below do not necessarily
correspond with the suburbs of the same name, and will
often include neighbouring areas.
History
The settlement of Melbourne commenced
in 1835 when settlers from Tasmania "purchased"
land on Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River from the
local Aboriginal tribes. The streets of central Melbourne
were carefully laid out in 1837, with some streets 30
metres wide. The first British lieutenant-governor, Charles
La Trobe, arrived in 1839 – his cottage still stands
and can be visited in Kings Domain. The year 1851 was
a landmark for Melbourne - the colony of Victoria was
separated from New South Wales and very soon after gold
was discovered in Victoria, sparking a huge goldrush.
Aspects of goldrush history can be seen at the Gold Treasury
Museum, housed in the Treasury Building built in 1858.
Gold was the catalyst for several decades of prosperity
lasting through to the late 1880s and examples of the
ornate Victorian-era structures built during this time
still stand. In 1888 the property boom collapsed and Victoria
suffered the depression of the 1890s. Throughout the gold
and building booms Melbourne managed to retain its many
and spacious parks and gardens and these remain to this
day.
In 1901 the British colonies of Australia
became an independent federation and Melbourne the de
facto capital of Australia, the Federal Parliament meeting
in the Parliament House of Victoria until 1927 when the
new Federal capital of Canberra was founded. After World
War II Melbourne grew rapidly, its mainly Anglo-Celtic
population boosted by immigration from Europe, particularly
Greece and Italy. Today Melbourne has the biggest Greek
city population (over 800,000) outside Greece and the
biggest Italian city population (over 230,000) outside
Italy. The significant pre-war Jewish population was also
boosted after the war. From the mid-70s many immigrants
came from South-east Asia, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia.
Melbourne has had a Chinese population since the goldrush
of the 1850s and Chinatown has existed from that time
but the population of Chinese and other East Asians has
also been boosted by immigration in recent years.
New high-rise buildings replaced many
of Melbourne’s interesting old structures in the
construction boom of the 1970s and 80s. Melburnians belatedly
recognised the loss of their architectural heritage and
steps were taken to protect what was left. Construction
of the huge Crown Casino (briefly the largest casino in
the world) in the 1990s upset many Melburnians with its
introduction of a crass gambling culture and the sucking
of money from the rest of the city. Melbourne’s
development continues in the 2000s with the opening of
the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square and the Docklands
precinct.
Culture
Melbourne considers itself the cultural
capital of Australia, a boast supported by its many art
galleries, film festivals, orchestras, choral and opera
productions, vibrant live music scene and a strong food,
wine and coffee culture. Particular events to note include
the Melbourne International Film Festival in August, the
International Art Festival in October, and the Melbourne
Comedy Festival in April, as well as individual concerts
and exhibitions throughout the year. In addition to the
Melbourne Museum, there are special museums dedicated
to subjects such as science, immigration, Chinese history,
Jewish history, sport, racing, film and moving image,
railways, police, fire brigades and banking.
Sport
Melburnians are sports enthusiasts and
particularly passionate about Australian Rules football
[2], a sport invented in Melbourne. In fact AFL is not
so much a sport as a religion in Melbourne with 9 of the
10 Victorian teams being based in Melbourne, the only
other being based in Geelong. As a guide, the entire national
competition only has 16 teams, meaning over half the league
is based in Melbourne. Horseracing is another passion,
and the majority of the state has a public holiday on
the first Tuesday of November for the racing of the Melbourne
Cup [3], one of the world’s famous horse races.
Cricket is the big summer sport and the Melbourne Cricket
Ground (the 'MCG') [4] is one of the world's leading grounds.
Each January Melbourne hosts tennis' Australian Open [5],
one of the world’s four Grand Slam championships.
In March, Melbourne hosts the first race of the Formula
One season [6]. The race is held in Albert Park in South
Melbourne. Melbournians have also taken Football (Soccer)
to their hearts in recent times. The Melbourne Victory,
playing in Australia's premier competition, the A-League,
enjoy enormous crowds and colourful, boistrous support
at their home ground, the Telstra Dome. Melbourne is the
unquestioned sporting capital of Australia with the largest
arenas and two of the major sporting administrations basing
their operation in Melbourne: Cricket Australia is a stone's
throw from the MCG, and the Australian Football League
is based at the Telstra Dome.
Information courtesy of Wikipedia
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