St Kilda is an inner seaside 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 ...

, 6 km (4 miles) 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 ...

. St Kilda recorded a population of 19,490 at the 2021 census. The Traditional Owners of St Kilda are the Yaluk-ut Weelam clan of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. St Kilda was named by

Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...

, then superintendent of the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

, after a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, ''

Lady of St Kilda The ''Lady of St Kilda'' was a schooner which served from 1834 before being shipwrecked off Tahiti shortly after 1843.moored A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

at the main beach in early 1842. Later in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, St Kilda became a favoured suburb of Melbourne's elite, and many palatial mansions and grand terraces were constructed along its hills and waterfront. After the turn of the century, the St Kilda foreshore became Melbourne's favoured playground, with electric tram lines linking the suburbs to the seaside amusement rides, ballrooms, cinemas and cafes, and crowds flocked to St Kilda Beach. Many of the mansions and grand terraces became guest houses, and gardens were filled in with apartment buildings, making St Kilda the most densely populated suburb in Melbourne. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, St Kilda became Melbourne's

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

, and the guest houses became low-cost

rooming house A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share kitchen and often bathroom facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-income people, as ...

s. By the late 1960s, St Kilda had developed a culture of

bohemianism Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, a ...

, attracting prominent artists and musicians, including those in the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

subcultures. While some of these groups still maintain a presence in St Kilda, since the 2000s the district has experienced rapid

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

, pushing many lower socio-economic groups out to other areas, with the suburb again being sought after by the wealthy. Since at least the 1950s, the suburb has been the axis of Melbourne's Jewish community. St Kilda is home to many of Melbourne's visitor attractions including

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-sc ...

St Kilda Pier The St Kilda Pier in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, is home to a colony of Eudyptula novaehollandiae, Australian little penguins, the St Kilda Pavilion, as well as the Marina of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron. It was first built in 1853 ...

, the

Palais Theatre The Palais Theatre (originally Palais Pictures) is a historic picture palace located in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. With a capacity of nearly 3,000 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia. Replac ...

and the Esplanade Hotel. It hosts many of Melbourne's big events and festivals.

Name

Before being officially named ''St Kilda'' in 1842NSW Government Gazette, Friday 4 November 1842, p.1644 by

, who was superintendent of the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the area was known by several names, including 'Green Knoll', 'Punk Town' and 'The Village of Fareham'. It was eventually named after the schooner ''

Lady of St Kilda The ''Lady of St Kilda'' was a schooner which served from 1834 before being shipwrecked off Tahiti shortly after 1843. The vessel was moored at the main beach for the early part of 1842, which was soon known as "the St Kilda foreshore". The schooner ''Lady of St Kilda'' was named in honour of

Lady Grange Rachel Chiesley (baptised 4 February 1679 – 12 May 1745), usually known as Lady Grange, was the wife of James Erskine, Lord Grange, Lord Grange, a Scottish lawyer with Jacobitism, Jacobite sympathies. After 25 years of marriage and ...

, who was imprisoned by her husband between 1734 and 1740 on the island of

Hirta Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...

, the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

The Euroe Yroke area (now known as St Kilda) was inhabited an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years ago. Evidence has been found of shellfish

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s and huts along

Albert Park and Lake Albert Park is a large public park in the City of Port Phillip, an inner suburban LGA of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located south of the Melbourne central business district, the park encompasses of parkland around the long Albert Par ...

and

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

s which were most likely sharpened on the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

cliffs behind the main beach.

Corroboree A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...

s were held at the historic tree which still stands at

St Kilda Junction St Kilda Junction is a major intersection in Melbourne, Australia. It is in the suburb of St Kilda, bordering Windsor and St Kilda East, and is the meeting point of the major roads Punt Road, St Kilda Road, Dandenong Road/Queens Way/Princes ...

, at the corner of Fitzroy Street and Queens Road. Much of the area north of present-day Fitzroy Street was swampland, part of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

, which comprised vast areas of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and sparse vegetation. The first European settler in St Kilda was Benjamin Baxter in around 1839. He was a settler from Melbourne on a grazing lease. In 1840, St Kilda was the home to Melbourne's first quarantine station for Scottish immigrants. The area was officially named ''St Kilda'' in 1842. The first sale of Crown lands for the village of St Kilda took place on 7 December 1842. The first block was bought by James Ross Lawrence, who had been master of the ''Lady of St Kilda'' until 1842. Lawrence had now settled in Melbourne. His block was bounded by three unmade roads. One of these roads he named Acland Street, after Thomas Acland, who had been his employer until 1840 but who had never been to Port Phillip District. The remaining two became Fitzroy Street and The Esplanade. (A plaque at the junction of Acland and Fitzroy Streets marks the site of the block.) By 1845, Lawrence had subdivided and sold the land on which he had built a cottage. The land on the sea side of The Esplanade has continued to be Crown land. Within a few years St Kilda became a fashionable area for the wealthy, and the indigenous peoples were driven out to surrounding areas. The high ground above the beach offered a cool fresh breeze during Melbourne's hot summer months. St Kilda became a separate municipality on 24 April 1857, and in the same year, the

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

connected St Kilda to Melbourne city, and a loop line to Windsor. These railway lines made the area even more attractive as a place to settle, and attracted visitors to St Kilda Beach, the

, the privately run sea baths, and events like the St Kilda Cup. Cricket and bowling clubs were formed in 1855 and 1865 respectively. By the mid-1860s St Kilda had about fifteen hotels, including the George (which began as the Terminus in 1857).

Land boom

St Kilda's population more than doubled between 1870 and 1890, to about 19,000 persons. By the time of the Land Boom of the 1880s St Kilda had become a district of great mansions, large villas in extensive gardens, grand terraces, and palatial hotels, particularly along the main streets such as Fitzroy Street, Grey Street and

Acland Street Acland Street is a street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach Acland Street runs o ...

, while the other streets were lined with villas and terraces of more modest dimensions. The area known as St Kilda Hill, on the other side of High Street (now known as the St Kilda part of St Kilda Road and originally lined with shops), between Wellington Street, Alma Road, and

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 ...

was also developed with mansions and large houses, as well as St Kilda's Synagogue. The Esplanade Hotel was built in 1878 overlooking St Kilda Beach, and the George Hotel opposite the station was greatly expanded in 1889. The smaller streets with smaller blocks between the big estates were developed with modest cottages and terraces, housing the working class population of the area. The flatter inland areas of St Kilda East was also dominated by mansions and large villas in extensive grounds, but also smaller more typical Victorian houses. Much of the area which is now

St Kilda West St Kilda West is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government are ...

was swampland, but was reclaimed and subdivided in the 1870s, with more large houses and terraces, mostly in the area close to Fitzroy Street. Cable tram lines across Melbourne were built in the late 1880s, with a line from

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically ...

in central Melbourne along St Kilda Road to

completed in 1888, and a line from Windsor Station at Chapel Street along Wellington Street and Fitzroy Streets, then around the Esplanade opening in 1891, making the suburb and the beachfront easily accessible.

Seaside playground

The boom of the 1880s ended with the bank crashes of the early 1890s and subsequent depression, affecting all levels of society, but ruining many of the newly wealthy. Many of St Kilda's mansions and spacious terrace houses became guest houses, and the wealthy elite retreated to other exclusive suburbs such as

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and Toorak. From 1906, the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

operated a tram line, described as an 'Electric Street Railway', from St Kilda Station to

, via Grey Street, Barkly Street and Mitford Street in Elwood. The developing electric tram lines in the east and southeastern suburbs soon arrived as well, with two lines terminating in front of Luna Park by 1913, joined by the electric line that replaced the cable car in 1925, bringing cords of day-trippers to the beach front.

Carlo Catani Carlo Giorgio Domenico Enrico Catani (22 April 1852 – 20 July 1918) was a civil engineer who worked in Australia for the Victorian Government for the majority of his career. He oversaw many projects, including: *the draining of the Koo-W ...

, a native of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, a local resident, and Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, was a founding member of the St Kilda Foreshore Committee established in 1906, tasked with the beautification of the St Kilda foreshore, for which he did the design. His plan saw the creation of park and lawn areas, paths and promenades, rockeries and gardens and avenues of trees and palms right along the foreshore. The committee also oversaw the leases for the various amusement operators wishing to cater to the growing visitation to the area, which included the Dreamland amusement park (1906 - 1909), a new

St Kilda Sea Baths The St Kilda Sea Baths is a pool, spa, food and entertainment complex on St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia. Numerous 'seabath' structures have come and gone on the St Kilda foreshore, the last built in a Spanish- Moorish style in 1931, which ...

(1910), which replaced the 1862 "Gymnasium Baths",

(1912), the Palais de Danse (1919 and 1926), the

(1927), and many others. Catani died in 1918 before he could see the full vision realised, and several landmarks along the foreshore have been named after him, including a memorial clock tower, gardens and an arch. Other amusements developed in the area, such as the Wattle Path Palais dance hall (later the

St Moritz Ice Rink The St. Moritz Ice Rink was a popular ice rink housed in a grand venue on The Esplanade, St. Kilda, Victoria, which operated between 1939–1981. As one of only two ice rinks in Melbourne in the 40s and 50s, it played a central role to the sport ...

) on the Upper Esplanade, and the Venue next door, and the Victory Cinema in 1928 on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle (later the National Theatre). St Kilda served a similar function for Melburnians as did

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

to the residents of New York City. with Acland Street and Fitzroy Street became lined with shops, often built in the front gardens of the earlier houses, which housed numerous restaurants and cafes. Apartment development also concentrated in the area, some in the gardens of the mansions, some replacing them, or transforming them, with the result that St Kilda became the most densely populated suburb in Melbourne, often single people who moved away from family life, which combined with the numerous sometimes late night amusements, gave the suburb a racy reputation. This reputation was exacerbated by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and it became the growing focus of many of Melbourne's

social issues A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

including crime, prostitution and

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

. St Kilda had become a favoured location for Melbourne's wealthier Jewish community in the 19th century, which continued through the interwar years. The community grew markedly just before and after WW2, with refugees from war-torn European, and developed an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

community along with the existing Reformed one, opening new synagogues and schools. They settled in apartments in St Kilda, East St Kilda and Elwood, and Acland Street. Cafe Scheherazade on Acland Street was established in the 1950s, and served up borscht and latkes for decades, becoming an icon for this community. By the 1980s, the Jewish centre of Melbourne had moved eastward to more affluent Caulfield. Scheherazade moved to Caulfield in 2008.

Decline

WW2 saw servicemen flock to the beach amusements, where they also met members of the opposite sex, increasing St Kilda's reputation for loose morals. Leo's Spaghetti bar and gelateria was opened for the Olympics in 1956 by an Italian migrant as one of Melbourne's first Italian restaurants and quickly became a Melbourne establishment. With numerous small apartments, and plenty of meeting places, St Kilda became one of the city's main areas of

, as well as attracting a gay and lesbian population. From 1965,

Mirka Mora Mirka Madeleine Mora (18 March 1928 – 27 August 2018) was a French-born Australian visual artist and cultural figure who contributed significantly to the development of contemporary art in Australia. Her media included drawing, painting, scu ...

's Tolarno Hotel became the focus of many of the local artists. By the mid 1960s the Fitzroy Street area had become known for prostitution, with a number of strip-tease cabarets, notably at the once high-class George Hotel. In the early 1960s works to the Lower Esplanade turned it into a fast moving connection between Marine Parade and Beaconsfield Parade, creating a barrier to the beach, except for a pedestrian crossover and several traffic lights. In 1968, the Palais de Danse, adjacent to the Palais was gutted by fire. The Palace nightclub was built in its place in 1971 (in 2007 this building was closed, gutted by fire, and demolished). In the late 1960s St Kilda Junction was rebuilt to create a Queens Way underpass connection to Dandenong Road, and in the early 1970s St Kilda Road (formerly High Street) from the junction to Carlisle Street was widened by demolishing all the properties on the west side. The landmark Junction Hotel was lost, and High Street, once St Kilda's shopping centre, ceased to function as such. The widening also had the effect of creating a physical barrier between St Kilda's foreshore, civic area and eastern residential streets. The St Moritz ice rink was closed in 1981; around 1982, it was destroyed by a fire.

Gentrification

In 1987, the St Kilda railway line was closed, rationalised and re-opened to become part of route 96, one of the first light rail lines in Melbourne, terminating at Acland Street. St Kilda also experienced increased

during the 1990s, particularly popular with

yuppies Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

due to its proximity to the CBD. The increased cost of rentals led many long-term residents to leave and removed much of the bohemian and artistic character of the area. In 1991, the site formerly occupied by the St Moritz ice rink was reopened as the St Moritz hotel, which became the Novotel Bayside in 1993, then Novotel St Kilda in 1999. In mid-1998, Becton, new owners of the Esplanade Hotel announced its plan to build a 125-metre, 38-storey tower behind the historic hotel. The plans were later scaled down due to resident concerns. On 11 September 2003, the St Kilda icon, the 99-year-old pier kiosk burned down in an arson attack. In a swift and overwhelming response to the loss, the government committed to its original plans using what remained of the original materials. In 2004, Baymour Court, significant 1920s Spanish Mission flats and hotel stables were demolished despite the campaigning of the

National Trust of Victoria 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 ...

and The Esplanade Alliance as part of the commencement of hi-rise Esplanade apartment building. Lady of st kilda wreck

For the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, St Kilda hosted an interpretive

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

work called the Lady of St Kilda, a mock timber sculpture of the

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

. The installation was visited by locals and tourists and it was left erected for many months afterward. However, the sculpture was subject to vandals disassembling parts of it as well as concern for children's safety on the high unprotected bow of the "ship" so the local council removed it in November 2006. The area adjacent to the Palais Theatre known as the Triangle Site, including the Palace music venue, is the subject of a major re-development, first proposed in 2005. The proposals stipulated the restoration of the Palais Theatre, but controversially many advocated the demolition of the Palace, one of the area's main live music venues. To save the Palace, a legal battle ensued. Ironically, the Palace burned down spectacularly during an arson attack, and fears were held for the Palais. The winning development in 2007 plans a series of lanes, promenades and walkways rambling through eating and drinking spaces, art installations, entertainment venues, retail outlets and open grassy spaces. Further controversy over the new development was caused when the tenants who vacated the Palais illegally removed its 80-year-old chandeliers. In 2006, plans went out for a foreshore re-development, which included promenade widening and saw the demolition of the bicentennial pavilion which marked the land end of the St Kilda pier. In 2006, the proposed development of a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

and concrete urban plaza over parkland on Fitzroy Street next to the primary school at Albert Park caused significant local controversy. The council received a large number of objections. Alternative sites along the foreshore were ignored by council and all of the mature trees on the site were removed before the plans were presented for consultation. St Kilda Palace Stevage

In February 2008, the Port Phillip Council's approval of the proposed Triangle site development despite over 5,000 written objections (representing over a quarter of the population of St Kilda) caused an uproar in St Kilda which saw media attention across Victoria with local resident lobby groups including Save St Kilda and UnChain St Kilda banding thousands of residents together in protest and enlisting the help of celebrities including Dave Hughes, Magda Subzanski and Rachel Griffiths in their fight against the local council. The council had refused to allow a secret agreement between it, the developers and state government to be released which effectively allowed for the transfer of ownership of a large amount of

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

to private owners. As well as the outrage over the sale of public land, many residents believed that the state government and council should have funded the restoration of the heritage Palais themselves rather than pass the costs on to the developers who had proposed a larger development to recover their own costs. In May 2008, the skate park development was stopped by the Supreme Court of Victoria, claiming that the council had acted inappropriately. A hearing was scheduled with the

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was formed by the ''Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act'' 1998 in the state of Victoria, Australia. As part of the Victorian Justice system the Tribunal sits 'below' the Magistrat ...

. The mayor at the time, Janet Bolitho, was cited to have commented "the area would remain public open space – just maybe not green". In December 2009, a new council elected to largely replace the councillors who approved the Triangle development voted almost unanimously to terminate the agreement with the developers, agreeing to pay them $5 million over a period of three years. In the 12-month period to January 2020 St Kilda reported a median house price of A$1.34 million for a three bedroom house.

Demography

In the 2016 census, there were 20,230 people in St Kilda. 51.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 5.2%, New Zealand 3.8%, India 2.1%, Ireland 1.9% and China 1.4%. 66.2% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.7%, Spanish 1.7%, Italian 1.5%, French 1.4% and Russian 1.2%. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 45.5%. Today, St Kilda is an area of sharp social contrast, with many homeless and other disadvantaged people living among the wealthy and fashionable who crowd its shops and cafes. The suburb is noted for its many itinerant backpackers, but also for its many long-term permanent residents. For many years, St Kilda has had the highest population density in the Melbourne statistical area, and the highest for a metropolitan area outside of Sydney. This density is reflected in the built form, which consists primarily of strata titled units, apartments and flats, including a single

Housing Commission of Victoria The Housing Commission of Victoria (often shortened to Housing Commission, especially colloquially) was a Victorian State Government body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was abolished in 1984 ...

tower. Despite migrationary trends, St Kilda retains a small number of

ethnic groups An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

although like much of inner Melbourne, the community is largely multicultural. There are restaurants and shops representing the cultures of Italy, Poland, Japan, China, India, France, Ireland, Vietnam, Thailand and also Egypt, as well as local and international cuisine. The suburb's previously large Jewish community has declined, but a large number of synagogues still function in the area, and the

Jewish Museum of Australia The Jewish Museum of Australia, not to be confused with the Sydney Jewish Museum, aims to "explore and share the Jewish experience in Australia". It is located in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne. History The Jewish Museum of Australia was estab ...

is located in Alma Road. An

Italian Australian Italian Australians ( it, Italiani Australiani) are Australians with Italian ancestry. Italian Australians constitute the sixth largest ancestry group in Australia, and one of the largest groups in the global Italian diaspora. At the 2021 c ...

community has also been present in St Kilda for over a century, and a prominent member is

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

. St Kilda has a large Irish population. A growing French community has established in the area, which is the home of the Alliance Francaise de Melbourne with several schools and art galleries. A small community from the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

has also established itself in the nearby area and there are several shops of this community in the Carlisle Street area. While Melbourne's

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

population is relatively low, St Kilda has one of the larger indigenous communities and there are several rooming houses identifying with indigenous people.

Culture

Theatre and cinema

St Kilda has three main theatres, each catering to a different niche use; all are 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. H ...

. The National Theatre (formerly the Victory) on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets is a Beaux Arts styled performing arts venue built in 1920 which is home to the oldest ballet school in Australia (established in 1939). The

is located on the Esplanade and was built in 1927 to the design of Henry White as a cinema (formerly Palais Pictures). It is now used as a live music and concert venue.

The Astor Theatre The Astor Theatre is a classic, single-screen revival movie theatre located in the inner Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, that has a long and illustrious history. The site at 1-3 Chapel Street was first used for public entertainment in 1913 when ...

is a modern/

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

styled

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

built in 1935 to the design of Ray Morton Taylor. It features the largest screen in the Southern Hemisphere, and operates as an arthouse cinema with its own year-long film festival and private functions.

Places of worship

St Kilda is home to a large number of places of worship built over the years to serve primarily the Christian and Jewish faiths, although many of the churches have since been converted for other uses. The St Kilda Hebrew Congregation built between 1872 and 1880 in Charnwood Road was one of the earliest. The present building, diagonally opposite the original site (now a block of flats) but located in Charnwood Grove was consecrated on 13 March 1927. The former Baptist Church, built in 1876 at 16 Crimea Street served as a masonic hall before being acquired by

St Michael's Grammar School , motto_translation = For the Church of God , location = 25 Chapel Street, St Kilda, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne , ...

. The St Kilda Parish Mission Uniting Church, built in 1877 on the corner Chapel and Carlisle Streets, has a polychromatic brick and slate roof design. St Kilda Presbyterian Church, built in 1878 on the corner of Alma Road and Barkly Street was designed by Wilson & Beswicke architects. The Sacred Heart Church is a St Kilda landmark with its tall tower built on Grey Street in 1890 to the design of renowned colonial architect

Reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

in partnership with Henderson & Smart architects. The former St Kilda Uniting Church on the corner Fitzroy and Princes Streets became part of an apartment complex in the late 1990s. The Holy Trinity Church built between 1882 and 1889 on the corner of Brighton Road and Dickens Street is another church by

of Reed & Barnes. All Saints' Anglican Church, on the corner of Dandenong Road and Chapel Street, was designed by Nathaniel Billing with the foundation stone laid in 1858, becoming what is believed to be the largest Anglican parish church in the southern hemisphere, able to seat 1400 people, All Saints' is also known for its male choir, which is the only parish church choir of its kind remaining in Australia. Other churches include the Christ Church Complex on the corner Acland Street and Church Square.

Events and festivals

St Kilda is home to many major annual events. The largest of these is the

St Kilda Festival The St Kilda Festival, held every February (except 2021), is a free celebration of Australian music, summer, and St Kilda. Programming includes music, dance, children's activities, comedy, poetry, visual art, theatre, outdoor cinema, beach sp ...

. Hailed as Australia's Largest Free Music Festival the one-day event features live music, dance performances, community activities, carnival rides, street performances, market and food stalls, and a dedicated children's area. Since the first St Kilda Festival in 1980 the event has grown in scale and now attracts over half a million visitors each year. St Kilda also hosts the annual gay Pride March, which starts at Lakeside Drive and heads down Fitzroy Street to the Catani Gardens. The

St Kilda Short Film Festival St Kilda Film Festival is Australia's longest running short film festivalMelbourne Underground Film Festival The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) is an Austalian independent film festival featuring mostly genre, controversial, transgressive and avant garde material. History The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreeme ...

. Until 2009, St Kilda was home to the

Community Cup The Community Cup (known as the Reclink Community Cup since 2009 under naming rights) is an annual charity event which features a celebrity mixed-gender Australian rules football match. It is noted for its cult following, celebrity appearan ...

festival which celebrates grassroots

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

having attracted record attendances of up to 23,000 and raising money for local charity the Sacred Heart Mission. A similar annual celebrity cricket match known as Batting for the Battlers is played at the Peanut Farm opposite Luna Park and attracts a crowd of up to 2,000. Other local events include the St Kilda Film Festival and St Kilda Writers Festival. St Kilda even has its own, locally organised TEDx event TEDxStKilda, which is based on the TED format and ideals. St Kilda has run Melbourne's first major arts and crafts market which has been run on the Esplanade every Sunday since the 1980s. It has been rivalled in Melbourne in recent years by the

Southbank art and craft market Southbank is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Southbank recorded a population of 22 ...

Southbank promenade Southbank is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 1 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne a ...

Music

20200529075333!The Esplanade Hotel on The Esplanade in St Kilda

St Kilda has a vibrant music scene that has produced many notable bands and artists. During the late 1970s, it became a hotbed of dark, noisy

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

, pioneered by locals bands The Birthday Party (featuring

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

and

Rowland S. Howard Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career. Early life Rowland Stua ...

The Moodists The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981 ...

and

Crime & the City Solution Crime & the City Solution are an Australian rock band formed in late 1977 by singer-songwriter and mainstay Simon Bonney. They disbanded in 1979 leaving only bootleg recordings and demos. In late 1983, Bonney travelled to London and in 1985 he ...

. These and other groups such as

Hunters & Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...

regularly played at the Crystal Ballroom, one of the city's most iconic venues. Paul Kelly,

Tex Perkins Gregory Stephen Perkins (born 28 December 1964), better known by his stage name Tex Perkins, is an Australian singer-songwriter who fronted the Australian rock band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James B ...

Fred Negro Frederick John Negro (born 1959) is an Australian satirist, musician, songwriter, and cartoonist. He has fronted numerous rock, punk and country bands. Biography Frederick John Negro was born in 1959 and grew up in Richmond. In 1979 Negro fo ...

, and dozens of other independent musicians have also called St Kilda home at some point. Prominent local music venues include the Palais Theatre for larger concerts, the Esplanade Hotel (commonly known as "The Espy"), the Prince of Wales Hotel for larger gigs and DJ's (and backpackers), The George Public Bar on Saturday afternoons, the St Kilda Bowls Club, and The Greyhound – which picked up the local crowd, local bands, local bar staff and sticky carpet when The Esplanade Hotel (The Espy) kicked them out after 'suburbification' in the early noughties. The Greyhound has been undergoing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment since 2008 which has seen live music make way for a predominantly gay & lesbian clientele, building upon the successful Saturday night drag shows that have been running at the venue for over 15 years.

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Coli ...

started in St Kilda as an unnamed group.

Sport

St Kilda has very strong historical links with

. The

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

, nicknamed the Saints, formed in 1873, and currently competes in the national

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). Originally based locally at

Junction Oval Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to sponsorship reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The oval's location near the St Kilda Junc ...

, the team has played its home games at several venues outside St Kilda since 1965. Its current home ground is

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

. The St Kilda City Football Club of the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

is based at the Peanut Farm. St Kilda also has

Women's Australian rules football Women's Australian rules football (in areas where it is popular, known simply as women's football or women's footy or women's AFL), is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game. ...

team, the St Kilda Sharks, who won back-to-back

Victorian Women's Football League The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, across seven divisions and a total of ove ...

titles in 1998&99.

reserve has a number of ovals which are home to Australian rules football clubs. These include the historic

which has in the past been a prominent

VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

venue and more recently a training facility for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

. Several amateur

VAFA The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

clubs also use the park for their home grounds including the Collegians Football Club (Harry Trott Oval), Powerhouse Football Club (Ross Gregory Oval) and Old Melburnians (Junction Oval) are based in the St Kilda section of Albert Park. The Community Cup was a community Australian rules event, run for 14 years by the local Sacred Heart Mission, which until 2007 drew crowds of up to 23,000 spectators. St Kilda also has a strong

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

presence. The Junction Oval is home to the

St Kilda Cricket Club St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club playing in Victorian Premier Cricket, the elite club cricket competition in Melbourne, Australia.The club's home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, more commonly known as Junction Oval. History The ...

and occasionally the Victorian Bushrangers Cricket Club and was the debut venue of

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australia ...

. St Kilda has a wide range of other minor sports including the Collegians-X

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

club, the St Kilda baseball club, an

ultimate disc Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

club, and several social soccer clubs. St Kilda has a

Lawn Bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

scene which attracts younger players and has been popularised in film and television. The St Kilda Lawn Bowls Club on Fitzroy Street has a long history and retains its heritage clubhouse building as well as hosts many community events. Many of the open water events of the

2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

were held at St Kilda beach. The

triathlon and cycling time trials were held along the foreshore, and the marathon passed through some of St Kilda's main streets. The annual

Melbourne Marathon The Melbourne Marathon has been held annually since 1978. The 42.195 km run over the traditional marathon distance is the main race within the annual Melbourne Marathon Festival. The race celebrated its 30th birthday in 2007 with a new cour ...

also passes through St Kilda. St Kilda Beach is regularly used for state and international

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

tournaments.

Recreation and leisure

Recreation on St Kilda West and Middle Park beaches includes most

watersports Water sports or aquatic sports are sport activities conducted on waterbodies, and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...

, including

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, sailing,

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

rollerblading Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, jetskiing,

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a Surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a Cable skiing, cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or ...

sunbathing Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning beds. ...

and

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

with Skydive the Beach Melbourne. A

for the Fitzroy street end of Albert Park is in the planning stages as well as the existing skate park on Marine Parade. Kitesurfing on st kilda beaches

Built environment

Local landmarks

St Kilda has many distinctive local landmarks, most centred on the St Kilda Esplanade and foreshore area, several featuring domes of a

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

architecture theme established at the turn of the century. Perhaps the best known is

an early-20th century amusement park with its "Moonface" entry and its historic scenic railway. The St Kilda Pier is another local landmark and major tourist attraction. The pier is terminated by the

St Kilda Pavilion The St Kilda Pavilion is a historic kiosk located at the end of St Kilda Pier, in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. History The kiosk was designed by James Charles Morell and built in 1904 by John ...

, an Edwardian building in the mould of English pier pavilions which is considered of high cultural importance to Melburnians. It was recently reconstructed and listed on the Victorian Heritage Register after burning down. The pier has a long breakwater which shelters St Kilda Harbour and hosts a

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian lit ...

colony. St Kilda Beach, with gentle bay waves, is popular with swimmers and

sunbather Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby Human skin color, skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a ta ...

s during the summer months. As with most metropolitan beaches near the mouth of the Yarra, however, it has poor water quality. The

was a Moorish themed building built in the late 1920s and demolished in the 1990s leaving only the two turrets. After much delay after the original developer Hannah Friedman ran out of money it was redeveloped to resemble in a small way the original style and continues a history of sea baths in St Kilda which dates back to the 1850s. Sometime referred to as "Chadstone by the Sea" (Chadstone being a huge shopping mall).

is a shopping and restaurant precinct with numerous cake shops and cafes. It also features a number of public artworks. It is now a dead-end street, with a tram stop and plaza blocking it at Barkly Street.

St Kilda Town Hall St Kilda Town Hall is a grand, classically styled city hall, located on the corner of Brighton Road and Carlisle Street in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The first stage, never completed, was built as the municipal offices and public hall for th ...

is a building originally by William Pitt. It was burnt down in the 1980s and the interior has been extensively redesigned. Directly opposite is the St Kilda Public Library, built between 1971 and 1973 at 150 Carlisle Street. This is a brutalist design by architect Enrico Taglietti, designed to open like a book; it also includes Ashton Raggatt McDougall's award-winning extension (1994).

Residential architecture

With many layers of development, St Kilda is characterised by an eclectic mix of residential styles, ranging from rows of Victorian terrace houses, Edwardian and interwar homes and apartments to post-war and modern infill development. Much of St Kilda's innovative architecture is recognised nationally. St Kilda is home to many "boom style" mansions, dating back to the early days of the seaside resort. Historic residences include Eildon Mansion on Grey Street built in 1855 (later modified) to the design of Reed and Barnes is a significant grand old mansion. Hewison House built at 25 Chapel Street in 1869 is a former mansion that has become an administration building of

. Marion Terrace in Burnett Street was built in 1883 and is considered one of the finest Second Empire (architecture), Second Empire styled terrace houses in Australia. Myrnong Hall built in 1890 on Acland Street is a large Victorian mansion richly decorated in cast iron. Edwardian buildings include The Priory, built in 1890 at 61 Alma Road, it is one of the few Richardsonian Romanesque homes in Melbourne, built as the boarding house for a ladies' school, but now a private residence. During the interwar years St Kilda was heavily subdivided into apartments. This era produced some outstanding early apartment designs, including Majestic Mansions on Fitzroy Street (1912). Tompkins is a mixture of Edwardian styles and are some of the earliest self-contained flats in Melbourne. Summerland Mansions built in 1920 on Fitzroy Street is another block in the "mansion flats" style, a style rare in Melbourne. Belmont Flats on the corner of Alma Road and Chapel Street was built in 1923, an outstanding blend of Arts and Crafts and Californian Bungalow influences applied to an apartment building, was built in 1923. Belvedere Flats at 22 Esplanade on the corner of Robe Street was built in 1929 and is a Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture, Spanish Mission styled block of flats designed by William H. Merritt and has featured on ''The Secret Life of Us''. All of these buildings are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. A significant block of Spanish Mission flats, the Baymor Court, built in 1929 was demolished in November 2004 to make way for the Esplanade hi-rise apartment development. Edgewater Towers, completed in 1961, was Melbourne's first privately developed high-rise block and the tallest in Victoria. St Kilda is also home to some contemporary residential designs. St Leonards Apartments in St Leonards Street is two blocks of post-modern apartments, built in 1996 to the design of Nonda Katsalidis, and is recognised with multiple RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards.

Historic hotel buildings

St Kilda features many grand old hotels, some which still operate as licensed premises and others that function as accommodation, most of which are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. These include the Esplanade Hotel on the Esplanade. Built in 1878 and later modified, the Esplanade is a pub and live music venue known by locals as the 'Espy'. The St Kilda Coffee Palace, built in the 1870s was once the St Kilda's main coffee palace. It is now a hostel. The George Hotel was built in 1887 on the corner of Fitzroy and Grey streets. From 1979 to the mid 1980s the "Crystal Ballroom" at the George (briefly the Seaview Hotel) became a punk music venue, launching artists such as

, Hunters and Collectors, Models (band), Models and many more. In the 1990s, it was converted into studio apartments. More recently, the ground floor has been renovated and is now a function venue, nightclub and bar called The George Whitebar and Gallery. The Prince of Wales Hotel was built in 1940 in the moderne style on the site of the first Prince of Wales which was built in 1920. It has been used as a cabaret venue and is now another live music venue.

Parks and gardens

St Kilda is known for its many parks and gardens, many featuring combinations of the predominant Canary Island date palms, which are synonymous with the area and Washingtonia, Californian fan palms. Some of the gardens include St Kilda Botanic Gardens on Blessington Street, which has heritage features and gates, a conservatory, rose garden, lake and a sustainable Eco Centre building. The gardens were once surrounded by mansions, but were subject to unit development in the 1960s. The St Kilda Foreshore and Catani Arch are on Jacka Boulevard, while the upper Esplanade reserve where the Sunday markets are held features the Catani Clock Tower, heritage toilets and vaults. The Catani Gardens which sit between the foreshore, Beaconsfield Parade and the Esplanade includes a War Memorial, Captain Cook statue and Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron Buildings. O'Donnell Gardens is adjacent to Luna Park on Acland Street and features an art-deco monument and tall palms. Alfred Square, St Kilda, Alfred Square on the upper Esplanade has numerous war memorials, which include the South African War Memorial (1905) listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. Albert Park is a large park which spans many suburbs, including St Kilda on Fitzroy Street and hosts a number of sporting fields and a recreational lake. The St Kilda Town Hall features a small public Victorian garden facing the corner of Brighton Road and Carlisle Street. St Kilda Town Hall, jjron, 23

St Kilda is also home to one of Melbourne's few remaining

landmarks, the Corroboree Tree. The red gum eucalyptus, estimated at being between four and seven hundred years old, is located next to Queens Road, close to the junction with Fitzroy Street. A plaque close to its base reads "Aboriginals of early settlement days congregated and held their ceremonies under and in the vicinity of this tree". These ceremonies celebrated important events, told traditional stories and promoted unity between communities, and are commonly known by the generic term ''corroboree'', or ''ngargee'' in the local language. The site continued to be used, both for ceremonial purposes and as a fringe camp, for some years after British settlement in 1835, as is evidenced by Jacob Miller who told his son how he had witnessed the remnant Kulin people, Kulin population "perform their dancing about the old tree" after moving into the area during the 1850s. The "Veg Out" Community Gardens, at the former St Kilda Bowling Club in the Peanut Farm reserve, form another public garden. The gardens are primarily rented by residents of apartments in the area and offer local residents the opportunity to express themselves in a small plot of dirt, which results in many colourful artistic displays.

Education and schools

St Kilda is home to several schools, including secondary schools

, St Mary's College, Melbourne (school), St Mary's College and primary schools St Kilda Primary School (on Brighton Road) and St Kilda Park Primary School (on Fitzroy Street) all of which have imposing heritage buildings on campus. Former schools include St Kilda Grammar, which closed at the turn of the century.

References in popular culture

St Kilda has featured prominently in television. The Network Ten drama ''The Secret Life Of Us'', which ran from 2001 to 2005, was set in St Kilda, mostly around Acland Street, Fitzroy Street and in the Esplanade Hotel. The main characters were often depicted playing social games of soccer in Catani Gardens and social lawn bowls at St Kilda bowls club, both of which have since become local traditions. The show featured a fictional pub called the Foo Bar which was often sought after by tourists but did not actually exist. The popularity of the name later inspired a real licensed venue in nearby beachside

. St Kilda was also the venue for ''My Restaurant Rules'' 2004 series, with the Melbourne restaurant "Seven Stones". Many of Paul Kelly's songs feature St Kilda, including "From St Kilda to Kings Cross" from the album ''Post (Paul Kelly album), Post'' which included the lyric "I'd give you all of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour (all that land, all that water) For that one sweet promenade", in reference to the St Kilda Esplanade. The area also featured in songs such as "Killed her in St Kilda" by Voodoo Lovecats, "St Kilda Nights" by Purple Dentists and "Melodies of St Kilda" by Masters Apprentices. In the early 1990s inner-city "supergroup" Hell to Pay released the song "Saints and Kings", which featured the line "Ain't too many Saints in St Kilda". Many movies and video clips have been filmed in St Kilda, including indoor scenes from ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', the beach scenes of the 2005 hit Bollywood film ''Salaam Namaste'' and the 2006 film ''Kenny (2006 film), Kenny'' which in particular features the St Kilda Festival. Australian rock band

filmed many of their video clips in St Kilda in the 1980s; of particular note is "Talking to a Stranger" which used the old St Kilda railway station, "Say Goodbye (Hunters and Collectors Song), Say Goodbye", parts of which were filmed upstairs at the George Hotel and "Do you see what I see?" which was partly filmed on a train running along the Sandringham railway line, Sandringham line passed parts of St Kilda East, Victoria, East St Kilda, Balaclava, Victoria, Balaclava and Ripponlea, Victoria. Other musicians to film in the area include Eran James' clip "Touched by Love" which has backdrops including the Palais Theatre and St Kilda Pier and Something for Kate, whose clip "The Futurist" was filmed at St Kilda West pier. The Australian rock band The Cat Empire exclaimed in song, "We're gonna sleep on the St Ki-i-lda sands" in their song "The Crowd". St Kilda is also the residence of the fictional character The Honourable Phryne Fisher from author Kerry Greenwood's series of Phryne Fisher detective novels, which have been made into a television series called ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.'' The suburb of Saint Kilda, New Zealand, Saint Kilda in Dunedin, New Zealand, was named after Melbourne's St Kilda by early property developer (and former Melburnian) George Scott. St Kilda is the setting for the Sam Feldt & Bloombox remix videoclip of "On Trees and Birds and Fire" by the Netherlands, Dutch folk band I Am Oak.

Transport

St Kilda is well connected to the Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne by trams and a dedicated light rail line along the former St Kilda railway line, St Kilda railway. St Kilda is served by tram routes Melbourne tram route 3, 3a (on weekends), tram Melbourne tram route 12, 12 from Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins Street, tram Melbourne tram route 16, 16 from Swanston Street, and tram Melbourne tram route 96, 96 from Bourke Street. all routes are around 25 minutes from the city. St Kilda also has water transport in the form of ferry, ferries and private boating. Williamstown Ferries operates a regular ferry service running primarily between St Kilda and Williamstown, Victoria, Williamstown as well as operating services with to the Melbourne CBD with drop-off points at major tourist attractions which departs from St Kilda Pier. Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron has a building at St Kilda harbour, which has berths for boats and yachts and the Squadron also operates the St Kilda Marina on Marine Parade, one of the first marinas in Melbourne. The Bay Trail (Australia), Bayside Trail Segregated cycle facilities, off-road bicycle network connects through St Kilda with an additional Copenhagen-style bicycle lane running along Fitzroy Street connecting Albert Park Reserve to the foreshore.

Missing person cases

Three separate and prominent unsolved missing persons cases are associated with St Kilda. Linda Stilwell was a 7-year-old girl who was Kidnapping, abducted on 10 August 1968 from St Kilda Beach. The prime suspect is Derek Percy, who has also been named by police as a suspect in the Wanda Beach Murders and in the disappearance of the Beaumont children. Adele Bailey was a 23-year-old trans woman who disappeared from St Kilda in September 1978. Her remains were found in 1995 in a disused mineshaft near Bonnie Doon, Victoria, Bonnie Doon. Louise and Charmian Faulkner disappearance, Louise and Charmian Faulkner also vanished from outside their Acland Street flat on 26 April 1980 after getting into a Coupé utility, ute driven by an older Australian male.

Residents

;Architects * William Pitt (1855-1880s) * John James Clark (died at his residence in 1915) * Bernard Evans (architect), Sir Bernard Evans (moved from England in 1913 and was schooled there) ;Entertainers * Margot Robbie - actress * Trevor Marmalade - comedian * Paul Dawber: actor, Neighbours, Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series), Sons & Daughters
The Novelist
* Rachel Griffiths - actress * Magda Szubanski - comedian * John Safran - media personality * Zbych Trofimiuk - actor * Chris Lilley (comedian), Chris Lilley - actor and musician * Dub FX - musician and street performer * Jessica Jacobs - actress, ''Saddle Club'' series 2 *Charlie Vickers- Actor ;Musicians * AC/DC (1973–1975) * Mark Seymour (1970s–2005) *

(1970s; 1993–2009) *

* Renee Geyer - singer * Adam Briggs—better known by his performing name, "Briggs (rapper), Briggs" (early 2000s) ;Politicians * Henry Bailey (Australian politician), Henry Bailey (lived on Alma Road for many years and died there) * Stanley Bruce - one-time Prime Minister of Australia (born 1883, but moved in 1885) * Albert Jacka VC - 1st AIF Army officer and former Mayor of St Kilda ;Sportspeople *

(Australian rule footballer; lived there from the late 1970s to present) * Brian Dixon (Australian footballer), Brian Dixon, Australian rule footballer * Eva Duldig (born 1938), Austrian-born Australian and Dutch tennis player, author * Michael Klim, swimmer * Frederick McEvoy British winter Olympian who won bobsleigh bronze at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany. * Mal Michael (2007–), Australian rules footballer * Sir Hubert Opperman "Oppy" (cyclist; lived at Edgewater Towers from the day it opened in 1961 until he moved to retirement village) * Jim Stynes (Australian rules footballer, lived there until his death in 2012) * Timana Tahu, rugby league and rugby union footballer ;Visual artists * Rupert Bunny (born in St Kilda in 1864) * Marcus Clarke (lived at 49 Robe Street in the 1870s) * Karl Duldig (1902–1986), Austrian-Australian sculptor * Sidney Nolan (between 1917 and 1931) * Albert Tucker (artist), Albert Tucker (lived at 47 Robe Street between 1944 and 1946) * Joy Hester (lived at 47 Robe Street between 1944 and 1946) *

(lived at Tolarno mid-1960s) ;Writers * Louis Lavater - poet who spent his whole life in St Kilda from birth (2 March 1867) to death (22 May 1953) * Morris West - author of ''The Devil's Advocate (Morris West novel), The Devil's Advocate'' (1959) ;Other * Jim McNeil - violent criminal and 'Prison Playwright'; subject of book ''The Laughing Bandit'' * Dr Bertram Wainer"Gun Dealer 'angry' over Wainer article", 25 February 1970, ''The Age''. (The article makes reference to his Edgewater Towers flat)

References

External links

St Kilda Historical Society

Luna Park

Linden New Art

St Kilda Film Festival

Official Louise and Charmian Faulkner site

St Kilda Marina

From Riches to Rags and Back Again, a history of St Kilda's housing styles
on Culture Victoria {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Kilda, Victoria St Kilda, Victoria, Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Port Phillip Jews and Judaism in Melbourne Orthodox Jewish communities Red-light districts in Australia Seaside resorts in Australia Entertainment districts in Australia