Mount Victoria is a prominent hill high immediately to the east of central

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. About 4 kilometres due south is a

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

named Mount Albert and the two are linked by a ridge. Mount Victoria's residential area is on its north-western slopes.

History

Mount Victoria's original

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name is Tangi Te Keo, though Matairangi is also used. The first name derives from a legend in which two

taniwha In Māori mythology, taniwha () are large supernatural beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers (giant waves). They may be considered highly respected ...

tried to escape from Wellington Harbour which was then an enclosed lake. One taniwha became stranded and died, and its spirit turned into a bird named Te Keo, which flew to the top of the mountain and mourned (tangi).Te Ara: The New Zealand Encyclopedia. Story: Taniwha. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/taniwha/page-2 The second name translates as "to examine the sky". It was settled as, at its foot, Wellington's

Te Aro Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...

filled with commercial activities. Residents needed to be close to the city but wanted more comfortable surroundings. For a long time, it was one of Wellington's sources of fresh milk from its dairy farms.

Demographics

Mount Victoria statistical area covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Mount Victoria had a population of 4,527 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 129 people (2.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 189 people (4.4%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 1,785 households. There were 2,199 males and 2,328 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 30.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 351 people (7.8%) aged under 15 years, 1,800 (39.8%) aged 15 to 29, 2,007 (44.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 366 (8.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 82.0% European/Pākehā, 7.2% Māori, 2.4% Pacific peoples, 13.4% Asian, and 4.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 34.9%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 63.5% had no religion, 23.2% were Christian, 2.1% were Hindu, 0.5% were Muslim, 1.4% were Buddhist and 4.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,286 (54.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 156 (3.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $46,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 2,754 (65.9%) people were employed full-time, 588 (14.1%) were part-time, and 174 (4.2%) were unemployed.

Features

Town belt

Greek community

A strong link was forged between Cretans and New Zealanders during World War II. New Zealanders left behind in the retreat from Crete were hidden from the occupying army by Cretans at great personal danger and they were able to harass occupying forces. A commemoration of the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

is held each year in May. Lloyd Street which is the site of the Greek community centre and the Greek Orthodox Cathedral was renamed

Hania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

Street after Crete's old capital. Wellington's Olympic Football Club was established by Father Ilias Economou for his parishioners. About 65 per cent of Greek New Zealanders live in Wellington and in the decades following World War II they were concentrated in Mount Victoria. The greatest concentration is now in Miramar and around half of Greek weddings are now with other New Zealanders.

Boundaries

Mount Victoria, Wellington New Zealand (6981731410)

The

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

is almost entirely residential with commercial activity along Kent Terrace on its north-western boundary. The houses are on the north-western flank of the ridge above the southern end of the Wellington CBD,

. Adjoining suburbs are

Oriental Bay Oriental Bay is a bay and suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Noted for being both a popular beach and a luxurious centre of affluence in the city, it is located close to the Central Business District on Wellington Harbour. ...

with Roseneath, Newtown to the south, Te Aro to the west beyond Kent Terrace and

Hataitai Hataitai is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, 3.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The suburb extends over the southeastern flank of Mount Victoria and down a valley between the Town Belt and a ridge alon ...

on the far side of the ridge beyond the town belt. ;Waterfront What would seem to be residential Mount Victoria's frontage to the harbour is now technically a one-building-wide strip of Oriental Bay. The houses in Roxburgh, McFarlane, Hawker and Moeller Streets are all in Mount Victoria. The houses below those streets front onto Oriental Parade which is defined as Oriental Bay. The old monastery is in Mount Victoria. Palliser Road is in Roseneath.

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

and

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, official residence of New Zealand's

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, are beyond the southern boundary to the south-east of cricket's

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricke ...

. Beyond Government House is Newtown's Wellington Hospital. ;Houses Mt Victoria cottages (8049686227).jpg Wellington Mt Victoria (2672801305).jpg Looking down Majoribanks Street (4817370529).jpg Pirie Street (559073731).jpg

Lord of the Rings connection

Mount Victoria was used twice as a location in

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

film trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part ...

. The very first footage on the project was shot off Alexandra Road on 11 October 1999, called the "Get off the road" scene, followed by the "Escape from the

Nazgûl The Nazgûl (from Black Speech , "ring", and , "wraith, spirit"), introduced as Black Riders and also called Ringwraiths, Dark Riders, the Nine Riders, or simply the Nine, are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They were ...

" scenes a few hundred metres to the North. Later an old quarry at the top end of Ellice Street was used as the

Rohirrim Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the Ma ...

camp at

Dunharrow Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the King'', is largely ...

Education

Primary schools

Clyde Quay School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

St Mark's Church School , motto_translation = Make your mark every day , denomination = Anglican Church of Australia , type = Private, Independent Christian school , established = , staff = 46 , address = 13 Dufferin Street , region = Basin ...

is a co-educational Anglican private primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of .

Secondary schools

is a boys' state secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students, founded in 1867. It has a roll of as of .

Wellington East Girls' College Wellington East Girls' College (WEGC, Maori name: Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika) is a state single-sex girls' secondary school which sits directly above Mount Victoria Tunnel, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 ( ...

is a girls' state secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students, founded in 1925. It has a roll of .

References

External links

Full Moon Silhouettes
The Mount Victoria Lookout during moonrise
Mt Victoria Community Groups WebsitesMt Victoria Historical Society
{{coord, -41.296, 174.785, region:NZ_type:city(5226), format=dms, display=title Suburbs of Wellington City Greek-New Zealand culture

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 ...