Tarrawarra is a locality in

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 ...

, 45 km north-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

Shire of Yarra Ranges The Shire of Yarra Ranges, also known as Yarra Ranges Council, is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the outer eastern and northeastern suburbs of Melbourne extending into the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges. It has an ...

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 ...

. Tarrawarra recorded a population of 81 at the . It was originally known as View Hill estate, and was purchased in 1893 by David Syme, owner and publisher of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper, who expanded it and gave it its present name, which is of Aboriginal origin. The name refers to "slow waters", describing the local arc in the Yarra River. The Post Office opened on 4 June 1900 and closed in 1957. Tarrawarra railway station opened with the opening of the Healesville line on 1 March 1889 and closed with the line on 9 December 1980. The station is now under the control of the

Yarra Valley Railway The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia. History The Lilydale-Melbou ...

who are working towards reopening the line from Healesville through Tarrawarra to

Yarra Glen Yarra Glen is a town in Victoria, Australia, 40 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Yarra Glen recorded a population of 3,012 at the . History The Ry ...

. In 1954

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Monks from Ireland purchased one section of the property comprising , including the large house built by David Syme for his daughter and established Tarrawarra Abbey of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists). Since that time the community has built additional buildings including a large library in 2006. The monks support themselves by operating a beef farm and by Tarrawarra Eucharistic Breads. Another section of the original estate today is TarraWarra Estate winery, which opened in 1983 and which produces

chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

and

pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

, and the

TarraWarra Museum of Art TarraWarra Museum of Art is an art museum in Tarrawarra, Victoria, 45 kilometres northeast of Melbourne. Founded by philanthropists and art collectors Eva and Marc Besen, it is the first museum of art in Australia supported by a significant priva ...

, which opened in 2000.

References

External links

Cistercian order in Australia
also Tarrawarra Abbey home page

(SMH Travel) Towns in Victoria (Australia) Yarra Valley Yarra Ranges {{melbourne-geo-stub