Balaclava is an inner suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 7 km south-east of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, located within the

City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km2 and had a pop ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Balaclava recorded a population of 5,392 at the 2021 census. Balaclava is located in the south-east of the city, in the

St Kilda East St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Glen Eira and Port Phillip local government areas. St Kilda East recorded a population of 12 ...

area and is bounded by Inkerman Street to the north,

Chapel Street Chapel Street may refer to: * Chapel Street, Belgravia, England * Chapel Street, Liverpool, England * Chapel Street, Melbourne Chapel Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, running along the inner suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windso ...

to the west, Hotham Street to the east and Oak Grove and Los Angeles Court to the south. In terms of its cadastral division, Balaclava is in the parish of Prahran, within the County of Bourke The suburb was named after the

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

that took place on 25 October 1854, during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Well-known comedian

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy Order of Australia, AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, radio and television host as well as a personality and actor of theatre, television and film. He wa ...

spent part of his childhood in Balaclava. After his death, the local council placed a commemorative plaque on the house where he lived. Balaclava is home to much of Melbourne's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

Community, consisting of both

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

and non-Hasidic (''

Misnagdim ''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged / mitnaged'') was a Jewish religious movements, religious movement among the Eastern European Jewry, Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Has ...

'' or ''

Yeshivish Yeshivish (), also known as Yeshiva English, Yeshivisheh Shprach, or Yeshivisheh Reid, is a sociolect of English spoken by Yeshiva students and other Jews with a strong connection to the Orthodox Yeshiva world. "Yeshivish" may also refer t ...

'') Jews. Within its confines are a number of

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

restaurants and shops that cater to the local and broader Melbourne ''

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

'' communities.

Streets

Many streets in Balaclava and its vicinity are named after Crimean War battles; e.g., the Battle of Balaclava (Balaclava Road), the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and w ...

(Inkerman Road), the Siege of Sevastopol (Sebastopol Street), the Battle of the Alma River (Alma Road), the

Battle of the Great Redan The Battle of the Great Redan (or the ''Storming of the Third Bastion'';Konstantin Staniukovich, Staniukovich K. M. ''Севастопольский мальчик'': Издательство "Cоветская Россия"; Moscow; 1985 ) w ...

(Redan Street) and the

Battle of Malakoff The Battle of Malakoff (, ) or the Storming of the Malakhov Kurgan () was a series of French attacks against Russian forces on the Malakoff redoubt. The first attack was unsuccessful, and occurred on 18 June 1855; subsequent capture of the ...

(Malakoff Street). One street, Crimea Street, is named after the war itself. Other streets in the district are named after people connected with the Crimean War; e.g., Lord Raglan (Raglan Street), Lord Cardigan (Cardigan Street),

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

(Nightingale Street), François Certain Canrobert (Canrobert Street) and

Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared dead 27 October 1999), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer and gambler who vanished in 1974 after being suspected of killing ...

(Lucan Street).

Local landmarks

* Caulfield Campus of

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

– the suburb's largest school. * St Kilda Primary School – a public primary school originally opened in 1875. * St Colman's School Hall, Carlisle Street (1938–39) – designed to complement the church next door (previously CBC St Kilda's Balaclava Campus, King David School's Carlisle Campus and St Kevin's College's Waterford Campus). Image:Lady of st kilda mural.jpg, Lady of St Kilda mural, Carlisle Street Image:Carlisle street balaclava.jpg, Main shopping strip, Carlisle Street Image:St colmans school hall.jpg, St Colman's School Hall, Carlisle Street

Residential architecture

Image:Inkerman_street_terrace_housing.jpg, Late 1870s terrace housing in Inkerman Street Image:Terrace housing in east st kilda 3.jpg, Combinations of Victorian terraces and late Edwardian duplexes, and a variety of subtropical palms

Places of worship

There are many churches in Balaclava, with many of the modern places of worship serving the Jewish faith, but many of the older buildings have at some point served various Christian religions. Many of the church buildings in Balaclava are historic and heritage registered and form various religious precincts. Significant church buildings include: * St Colman's Catholic Church, Carlisle Street (1913, designed by Watts' Sons). * St George's Presbyterian Church, Chapel Street. Built in 1877–80 to the design of Albert Purchas. Listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. * Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Chapel Street. Designed by Joseph Reed and built in 1878, the building is Victorian Heritage listed. * Former Balaclava Corps Hall. Image:St_colmans_church_balaclava.jpg, St Colman's Catholic Church, Carlisle Street. Twin decorative towers were removed in the 1960s.

Transport

Balaclava is served by several forms of public transport. The main railway station, Balaclava, is on the

Sandringham railway line The Sandringham line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's fourth shortest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melb ...

. Tram routes 3 and 16 operate along Carlisle Street and route 78 operates along

. Bus routes 216 and 219 operate along Hotham Street. The importance of these routes has declined in recent years and is subject to change in 2017. A

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

rank operates on Carlisle Street, outside the Coles Supermarket.

Notable residents

Judith Lucy Judith Mary Lucy (born 25 March 1968) is an Australian comedian and actress, known primarily for her stand-up comedy. Lucy joined the team of the ABC's ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' in 2019. Early life Lucy's adoptive parents emigrate ...

Brian Nankervis Brian Nankervis is an Australian writer, actor, radio host, television producer and comedian. He is one of the co-creators of the music quiz show, ''RocKwiz'' and co-hosts ''The Friday Revue'' with Jacinta Parsons on ABC Radio Melbourne. Early l ...

John Safran John Michael Safran (; born 13 August 1972) is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in '' Race Around the W ...

* Amy Taylor

References

External links

Monash University – Australian Places

{{Authority control Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Port Phillip Orthodox Jewish communities