Visit Victoria.
You'll love every piece of Victoria

History and heritage in Melbourne

Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne. Photographer: Mike Thibodeau

In 1835 the first white settlers sailed up Port Phillip Bay and decided upon a site for a trading post. Originally the home of the Kulin nation, made up of five Aboriginal language groups, Melbourne began as a tent city of 50 settlers in 1835 but quickly grew to a population of 700,000 by 1869.

Gold rush boom
The rapid population growth was down to the gold rush of the 1850s, which saw Melbourne take off as a true international city. Those lucrative years and the ensuing land boom left Victoria with an outstanding legacy of fine architecture, examples of which are dotted around town today. Visitors to the region in the late nineteenth century labelled the city as 'marvellous Melbourne' and 'the jewel of the southern hemisphere'.

Houses and homesteads
The wealth of early settlers means Melbourne is also home to a number of outstanding and architecturally significant National Trust homes and museums, as well as historically significant parks and gardens. Among the best are Como house (a colonial mansion set in five acres of garden at Toorak) and Rippon Lea (the last of Australia's great privately owned nineteenth century suburban estates).

Melbourne Exhibition Buildings

Heritage buildings

Make sure you stop by the World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building, an outstanding example of the great 19th century international exhibition movement.
more >
Detail of artwork by Clive Atkinson

Aboriginal heritage

To discover more about local Aboriginal culture take the Aboriginal Heritage Walk or explore extensive indigenous art and artefacts at the Melbourne Museum.
more >
Balcony on historic building, Melbourne

Heritage walks and tours

See gold rush architecture along the four-kilometre Golden Mile Heritage Trail, where major points of interest and buildings are identified by brass markers. Take a self-guided walk or join a tour.
more >