Main Street – Swanston St

Swanston Street  – the heart  of Melbourne since the time surveyor Robert Hoddle drew up his blueprint for the city in 1837. Named after Captain Charles Swanston, who owned the Derwent Bank of Hobart,  the first bank to open for business in Melbourne in 1838.

For more information and timeline, go to: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ABOUTMELBOURNE/HISTORY/Pages/Streetsandroads.aspx#swanston

In the pictures:

CrossCulture Church of Christ ( formerly Swanston St Church of Christ), 333 Swanston St, by architect Charles Webb, built in 1863

State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St, by architect Joseph Reed, opened in 1856

Melbourne Central Tram Stop No.8

Melbourne Town Hall, 100 Swanston St, by architect Joseph Reed, completed in 1870, the hub of Melbourne’s cultural and civic events

Peter Savva, who runs Flowers Round the Hours, outside Melbourne Town Hall, for 25 years now

St Paul’s Cathedral, built on the site where the first public Christian services in Melbourne were held in 1836.

Manchester Unity,  by architect Marcus Barlow, constructed in 1932

Statue of Matthew Flinders, 1774-1814,  the first to circumnavigate Australia and identify it as a continent,  by sculptor  Charles Web Gilbert,  erected in 1925

Sculpture by Loretta Quinn, named ‘Beyond the Ocean of Existence’, 1993

Horse drawn carriages along Swanston St- a great way to see the city

Modes of Mobility

How does one move around in this city? Depending on whether you are a baby who hasn’t started walking, or a toddler who prefers it high up on their parent’s shoulder, or an active young adult in your rowboat on the Yarra, or someone who simply prefers the stylish way atop one of the many gorgeous horse-drawn carriages along Swanston St… there is a mode for everyone, even your pet can travel in style !