The Queen Victoria Gardens are Melbourne's memorial to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Located on 4.8 hectares (12 acres) opposite the

Victorian Arts Centre Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

and

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

, bounded by

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...

, Alexandra Avenue and Linlithgow Avenue. Queen Victoria's reign started in 1837, two years after the initial European settlement of

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 ...

, and upon her death in 1901 it was thought appropriate to declare an enduring monument to her reign. A memorial statue was commissioned from sculptor James White showing the Queen in ceremonial gowns casting her regal gaze across ornamental lakes, sweeping lawns and rose gardens to the Melbourne Arts Centre Spire and the city skyscrapers. Queen Victoria Gardens are part of a larger group of parklands directly south-east of the city, between St Kilda Road and 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 ...

known as the Domain Parklands, which includes; * Royal Botanic Gardens *

Kings Domain Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance. T ...

* Alexandra Gardens *''Queen Victoria Gardens''

Features

A huge floral clock is positioned opposite the

, containing over 7,000 flowering plants which are changed twice yearly. The clock was donated in 1966 to the City of Melbourne by a group of Swiss watchmakers. Behind the clock stands a bronze equestrian statue, a memorial to Queen Victoria's successor,

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. The statue, by Melbourne born sculptor

Bertram Mackennal Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 186310 October 1931), usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM". ...

, was unveiled on 21 July 1920.

Queen Victoria Memorial

A granite and marble memorial, commissioned by public subscription from sculptor James White and positioned at the highest point of the gardens, commemorates five aspects of Queen Victoria. The memorial is of white

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, Harcourt

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

and NSW Caloola marble, and was unveiled by Sir John Madden on

Empire Day Commonwealth Day (formerly Empire Day) is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, since 1977 often held on the second Monday in March. It is marked by an Anglican service in Westminster Abbey, normally attended by the monarch as ...

, 24 May 1907. Originally home to native grasses, she-oaks, wattles,

paperbark ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...

s, and

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

s, the area now consists of ornamental lakes, sweeping lawns, flowerbeds of annuals, and mature European and Australian trees and shrubs in a landscaped garden. As well as the monuments to ''Queen Victoria'' and ''King Edward VII'', the gardens are notable for their array of sculptures. These include an exploratory play sculpture for children, ''The Genie'', by Tom Bass in 1973. ''The Pathfinder'' was manufactured in 1974 by John Robinson and details a bronze Olympic Hammer thrower in action. ''The Phoenix'' was sculptured from cast bronze and welded copper sheet by Baroness Yrsa Von Heistner in 1973 to commemorate the 40th International Eucharistic Congress. ''The Bronze Water Children'' is an installation by John Robinson, made in 1973, which shows playing children at the top of a stream. ''The Water Nymph'' is a kneeling bronze figure sculptured in 1925 by Paul Montford, modelled on Eileen Lillian Prescott. A classic rotunda was built in 1913 and named after

Janet, Lady Clarke Janet Marion Clarke (; 4 June 1851 – 28 April 1909) was an Australian socialite and philanthropist. She was known to the general public as Lady Clarke, a title which she assumed after her husband's elevation to the baronetage in 1882. Early ...

, a philanthropist who worked for the welfare of women in Melbourne. Image:Unbenannt (114 von 136).jpg, The Queen Victoria Gardens' Floral Clock Image:Queen Victoria Memorial.jpg, The Queen Victoria Memorial in the Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne

References

External links

Melbourne City Council - Queen Victoria Gardens

Queen Victoria Memorial
(including photographs) {{Queen Victoria Parks in Melbourne Gardens in Victoria (Australia) Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria 1905 establishments in Australia 1907 sculptures Landmarks in Melbourne City of Melbourne

Features

Queen Victoria Memorial

See also

References

External links