The Royal Arcade is a historic shopping arcade in the

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 ...

Melbourne, Victoria 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 ...

, Australia. Opened in 1870, it connects Bourke Street Mall to

Little Collins Street Little Collins Street is a minor road, street in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The street runs parallel to and to the north of Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the ...

, with a side offshoot to Elizabeth Street. It is the oldest surviving arcade in Australia, known for its elegant light-filled interior, and the large carved mythic figures of

Gog and Magog Gog and Magog (; ) or Ya'juj and Ma'juj () are a pair of names that appear in the Bible and the Quran, Qur'an, variously ascribed to individuals, tribes, or lands. In Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land. By the time of the New ...

flanking the southern entry. Along with Melbourne's other Victorian era arcade, the nearby Block Arcade, it is a tourist icon of the city, and forms part of the network of lanes and arcades in the CBD. The arcade is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

, as well as by the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

. It also forms part of Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk.

History

Royal Arcade Melbourne Christmas Eve 1874

Designed by Charles Webb, who won a competition in 1868, the arcade features a high glass roof and rows of arched windows to the storerooms above each shop. It was formally opened by the City Lord Mayor on 2 May, 1870. The arcade's most famous features were added in 1893; at the south end, the carved mythical figures of

(based on those in London's Guildhall), flank the large 'Gaunt's clock', which triggers the arms of the figures to strike bells each hour, while the north end features a figure of

Father Time Father Time is a personification of time, in particular the progression of history and the approach of death. In recent centuries, he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe ...

. Gaunt was Melbourne's best known clock-maker at the time. The arcade originally ended at the south end, with an entrance to a

Turkish Bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

, but this was opened up to Little Collins Street in 1902, along with the creation of the large arched niche, and in the same year an extension was added to the west side through to Elizabeth Street . The shopfronts were all changed into bow fronted windows in 1890-1894, later many altered again, various central kiosks were added, and the black and white chequered floor laid in 1934. In the 1920s, the cast iron verandah was removed, but was recreated in the 1990s. In 2002-04 a major refurbishment and restoration included the recreation the 1894 shopfronts, bringing a consistency to the shopfronts once more. In c2010, the facade was repainted in a yellow and white colour scheme, with gilded highlights.

Access

The arcade's main entry faces

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tr ...

, and it connects south through to

, with an extension in the centre running west to Elizabeth Street. There is also a connection to the smaller Hub Arcade near the Little Collins Street end.

Gallery

File:Bourke street mall facade of royal arcade melbourne.jpg, The Bourke Street Mall facade in 2006 File:Royal arcade melbourne.jpeg, Southern end featuring

statues, and Gaunt's clock File:Father Time Block Arcade.jpg, Sculpture of

File:Royal Arcade Melbourne shopfront.jpg, Bow fronted shopfronts

References

External links

Royal Arcade websiteEnter the Arcade with Google Street View
{{coord, -37.8145, 144.9641, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Shopping arcades in Australia Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 1869 1869 establishments in Australia Bourke Street Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre Landmarks in Melbourne Italianate architecture in Melbourne Renaissance Revival architecture in Australia Victorian architecture in Victoria (state)

History

Access

Gallery

See also

References

External links