Balaclava is an inner suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 7 km south-east of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre 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 with the "city ...

, located within the

City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a 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 population of 113,200 in June 2018. P ...

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 State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Balaclava recorded a population of 5,392 at the 2021 census.

Geography

Balaclava is located in the south-east of the city, in the St Kilda East area and is bounded by Inkerman Street to the north,

Chapel Street Chapel Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, running along the inner suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda and St Kilda East. Route Chapel Street is essentially straight and runs for over 4.14 kilometres along an approxim ...

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.

History

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 from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. Well known television celebrity

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

spent part of his childhood in the Balaclava area. After his death, the local council placed a commemorative plaque on the house in which he lived.

Demographics

Balaclava is home to much of Melbourne's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

Community, consisting of both

Hasidim Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...

and non-Hasidim (''

Mitnagdim ''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misna ...

'' 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 to n ...

) 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, yi, כּשר), fro ...

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

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

'' 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...

(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 (russian: Оборона Третьего бастиона) was a major battle during the Crimean War, fought between British forces against Russia on 18 June and 8 September 1855 as a part of the Siege of Sevas ...

(Redan Street) and the

Battle of Malakoff The Battle of Malakoff (french: Bataille de Malakoff, russian: Бой на Малаховом кургане) was a French attack against Russian forces on the Malakoff redoubt and its subsequent capture on 8 September 1855 as a part 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 Baron Raglan, of Raglan in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 October 1852 for the military commander Lord FitzRoy Somerset, chiefly remembered as commander of the British troops ...

(Raglan Street),

Lord Cardigan Earl of Cardigan is a title in the Peerage of England, currently held by the Marquess of Ailesbury, Marquesses of Ailesbury, and used as a Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title by the heir apparent to that Marquessate, currentl ...

(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 t ...

(Nightingale Street),

François Certain Canrobert François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King o ...

(Canrobert Street) and

Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared death in absentia, declared dead 3 February 2016), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer who di ...

(Lucan Street).

Local landmarks

* Caulfield Campus of

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

– 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 Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...

, 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. Historic 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 railway line is a suburban railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It branches from other southeastern suburban rail lines (inferred as the " Caulfield group") at South Yarra station. It serves the City of Bayside, and small ...

. 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 are 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 driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

rank operates on Carlisle Street, outside the

Coles Supermarket Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates ...

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 emigr ...

Brian Nankervis Brian Nankervis (born 1956) is an Australian writer, actor, radio host, television producer and comedian. Personal life Nankervis was born in Melbourne. He lives in St Kilda with documentary film makerSue Thomsonand their children, Claudia, Lola ...

John Safran , citizenship = , education = , occupation = DocumentarianJournalistRadio presenterAuthor , years_active = 1997 – present , known_for = ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' ''John Safran vs God'' ''Race ...

* Amy Taylor

References

External links

Monash University – Australian Places

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