Tourists from all over the world have always been attracted to distant and mysterious Australia. Melbourne is the second largest city in the country, the capital of one of its states. In this article we will talk about this city, its memorable places, natural monuments and architectural sights.
Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the smallest state in the country. At the same time, its territory is equal to the territory of Great Britain. It is a land of striking contrasts - oceanfront and mountain ranges, forests and deserts, endless pastures and volcanic plains. The population of the state is very diverse. During the "gold rush" in the 19th century, immigrants from all over the world came here, the second wave of immigration began after 1945.
Victoria has many national, historic and coastal parks. The geographical diversity of this area is amazing - here you can visit the dense and cool tropical forests on the Errinundra plateau and see the coastal areas of virgin nature at Croajingolong. Tourists are shown majestic mountains in Alpine National Park and deserts in the northwest of Mallee.
Talking about itAustralian state, one cannot fail to mention the Great Ocean Road, which stretches along the picturesque ocean coast and world-famous beaches. Guests are advised to visit the Goldfields Historic District, the majestic Murray River.
The state has large provincial towns such as Bendigo and Ballarat, with a huge number of gold rush monuments, as well as tiny towns with one pub. But the capital of the state, magnificent Melbourne, attracts special attention of tourists.
Description of the city
The city of Melbourne (Australia) is located in Port Phillip Bay. It is the cultural capital of the country and is famous for its magnificent architecture, numerous shops of famous brands.
Here are museums of history, unique exhibition and art galleries, theaters, gardens and parks, as Melbourne (Australia) is a large modern metropolis, which organically combines new and old architecture. There are many memorable places in Melbourne that deserve the attention of travelers. Today we will introduce you to some of them.
Melbourne time (Australia)
This city belongs to the time zone GMT+10 and GMT+11 (summer). The time is six hours ahead of Moscow in summer and seven hours in winter.
Victoria Museum
This is a large complex that includes three museums - the Museum of Immigration, the Melbourne Museum and the Science Museum. It was founded in 1854 as the Museum of Geology. In 1870, the Industrial Museum appeared, a hundred years later it was renamedScience Museum of Victoria. Today, its collection includes approximately 16 million exhibits, which are dedicated to the history of the continent, the development of the art of science and technology.
Eureka Tower
Australia is famous for many original buildings. Melbourne is no exception in this regard. The original Eureka Tower is the tallest building in the city and one of the country's most famous buildings. The tower is second only to Q1 in Surfers Paradise. The 92-storey "Eureka" has a height of 297 m. Construction of the building began in 2002. It was completed after four years.
The tower was named in memory of the Eureka mine, where an uprising took place in the middle of the 19th century. This history is reflected in the design of the building - it clearly shows the crown, symbolizing the dashing years of the "gold rush", and the scarlet stripe, a symbol of the blood shed at the mine. The white stripes and blue glass of the façade are the colors of the rebel flag.
Cathedral
Melbourne (Australia, photo in our article) is rightly proud of the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the largest Anglican church in the city. The building is made in the Gothic style, and today it is the patronal cathedral of the archbishop of the state capital and the head of the Anglican metropolis.
It is very well located - opposite are the architectural monuments of Federation Square, and diagonally - the railway station of the city of Station. These buildings create the historical center of the city.
Botanical Gardens
The Royal Gardens of Melbourne are located on the banks of the Yarra River, very close to the city center. Here, on an area of 38 hectares, more than ten thousand species of plants grow. They represent not only local, but also world flora. Melbourne's Botanic Gardens are considered the best in the country and one of the best in the world.
45 km from Melbourne in the suburb of Cranbourne, you can visit the branch of the Royal Gardens, located on an area of 363 hectares. Local plants are predominantly grown here.
In Melbourne, the botanical gardens are adjacent to the Kings Domain, Queen Victoria Gardens and Alexandra Gardens.
From the moment of its foundation, the Botanical Gardens have been working on the study and identification of plants. The State Herbarium was established here. Today it consists of 1.2 million copies of dried plants. In addition, there is a huge collection of books, videos, manuals on botanical topics. And recently, the Center for Urban Ecology was organized here, observing plants that grow in urban ecosystems.
Dandenong National Park
Australia is distinguished by a huge number of parks and gardens. Melbourne offers tourists an excursion to Dandenong National Park. This beautiful place is located on the mountain range of the same name, an hour's drive from the city. This is a very popular holiday destination for locals. That is why residents of the surrounding area come here on weekends.townships. The attraction of the park is a giant eucalyptus, reaching a height of one hundred and fifty meters. It is the tallest flower plant in the world.
Scientists are sure that the jungle appeared here about a hundred million years ago. Today you can see the remains of this ancient forest - dense tree-like ferns. This forest makes a huge impression if you drive through it on the popular steam locomotive "Puffing Billy" under the crowns of giant eucalyptus trees.
For many thousands of years, the aboriginal tribes of Vuvurrong and Bunurong lived on this land. Later, this land became a source of timber resources for the developing Melbourne. By the end of the 19th century, the first roads and railway lines appeared here, and since then the first tourists began to visit here. Since 1882, Fern Hollow has been declared a protected area, but it became a national park a hundred years later (1987)
National Gallery
Another interesting place. The National Gallery glorified the city of Melbourne (Australia). The sights of this city are of great interest to researchers and scientists.
The gallery was founded in the city in 1861. In 2003, her holdings were divided into two collections - International Art and Ian Potter. The first was placed in a building on St. Kilda, which, designed by Roy Grounds, was built in 1968 in the city center. And the Ian Potter Center is in Federation Square.
By the time the gallery opened, Victoria had only been independent for ten yearscolony, which thanks to the "gold rush" has become one of the richest regions of the country. Valuable gifts from we althy citizens, as well as large financial investments, allowed the National Gallery to acquire works by ancient and contemporary artists around the world. Today, the funds contain over sixty-five thousand unique works of art.
Today you can see paintings by Palmezzano, Rembrandt, Bernini, Rubens, Tintoretto, Uccello, Veronese and Tiepolo. There are also magnificent collections of Egyptian artifacts, ancient Greek vases, European ceramics, etc.
The Ian Potter Center, which was opened in 2003, presents the work of Australian artists, as well as objects of culture and life of the Aborigines of Australia.
Gold Museum
Australia (Melbourne) has an amazing museum housed in the old Treasury building. It was built in 1862. Previously, it was the second most important in Melbourne after Parliament, however, the treasury was in it for a short time - only sixteen years.
The author of the architectural project was the young and very talented J. Clark, who began construction when he was only nineteen years old. Today, this neo-Renaissance building is deservedly considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Melbourne.
The Gold Museum was opened to the public in 1994. Today there are several permanent exhibitions that are dedicated to the history of the "gold rush", as well asformation and development of Melbourne. Sometimes the museum is called a city museum. For example, the Making Melbourne exhibit takes visitors through the history of the city, from its founding in 1835 to our own time.
It is quite natural that a significant part of the exhibition tells about the times of gold mining, which gave impetus to the rapid development of Melbourne and made it the most important city on the continent.
Another interesting exhibition - "Built on Gold" will allow guests to find out when the first gold bar was found in Victoria and understand how this discovery changed the fate of the country. The museum also hosts temporary themed exhibitions on Melbourne's cultural heritage.
Tullamarine Airport
And now let's visit Melbourne Airport (Australia). "Tullamarine" is the main air harbor of the city. In terms of passenger traffic, it confidently ranks second in Australia. It is located twenty-three kilometers from the city center, in the suburb of Tullamarine. It was opened in 1970. It is the only international airport serving the Melbourne metropolitan area.
From here you can fly direct flights to all states of Australia, as well as to Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. In 2003, Tullamarine Airport received an international IATA award and two national awards for the high quality of passenger service. The airport has two runways, a weather station, four terminals, a huge hangar and an observation deck. At Tullamarine Airportthere are three hotels, cafes, restaurants, a gas station, two large and very comfortable waiting rooms, a mother-and-child room equipped with everything necessary. Melbourne Airport (Australia) is equipped with the latest navigation equipment. The arrivals board (online), located on the company's website, provides all the necessary information about flights.
