Royal Exhibition Center


The Royal Exhibition Center is an architectural monument of Melbourne , a large building resembling a palace in the style of the Victorian era. It is the largest object of the collection of the Victoria Museum, and is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The history of the Royal Exhibition Center

The exhibition center is due to the appearance of the International Exhibition held in Melbourne. The design of the building was entrusted to the architect Joseph Reed, the author of the State Library of the State and the City Hall of Melbourne. Reed brilliantly coped with the task. Construction was completed in 1880, almost to the very opening of the exhibition.

May 9, 1901 The Commonwealth of Australia becomes an independent country. This date became a landmark for the exhibition center, which hosted the opening ceremony of Australia's first ever parliament. However, after official events the government of the country moved to the building of the parliament of Victoria, and in the exhibition center from 1901 to 1927. housed the state parliament.

Over time, the building began to need restoration. In 1953, burned down one of the outbuildings, which housed the Melbourne Aquarium. Since the 1950s, plans have been discussed to demolish the building and erect offices in its place. However, after the Ballroom was dismantled in 1979, a wave of protests arose in the community and the building was handed over to the Melbourne Museum.

In 1984, Melbourne was visited by Queen Elizabeth II, she also awarded the exhibition center with the title "Royal". Since that moment, in a building that has received the attention of the Queen herself, a large-scale reconstruction begins, including internal premises.

In 1996, the state's premier Jeff Kenneth suggested building a new museum building next to the building. This decision caused a stormy reaction from the public, the Melbourne City Hall and the Labor Party. In the course of the struggle to preserve the exhibition center in its original form, the idea to nominate the building for the UNESCO World Heritage title was put forward. A few years later, in 2004, the Royal Exhibition Center became the first building in Australia to be awarded this high status.

Nowadays

The Royal Exhibition Center is unique for Melbourne, the second largest city in the world, and the recognized cultural center of modern Australia. The building includes the Great Hall, an area of ​​more than 12,000 m² and many smaller rooms. The prototype of the building and in particular the dome was the famous Florentine cathedral, so during the walk through the garden complex of the center there is a persistent feeling of being somewhere in the center of Europe.

The center is still used for exhibitions, for example, the annual International Flower Exhibition, various social events and rock concerts, as well as for conducting examinations by the leading universities of the city. The Melbourne Museum holds private tours of the building.

How to get there?

The Royal Exhibition Center is located in the city center, within the Central Business District, in the Carlton Gardens Park .