Interesting Facts About Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital of the State of Victoria, and is the second most populated city in Australia with more than four million people. The city was established in 1835, and is located on the large bay of Port Philip. Today, Melbourne is know as the cultural capital of Australia, and is one of major Australian centers of commerce, arts, entertainment, education, tourism and sports.

Every year, Melbourne hosts the Melbourne International Film Festival, the International Arts Festival, the Melbourne Fringe Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. These festivals are visited by tourists from all around the world. The eye-catching modern and old architecture of Melbourne complimented by beautiful landscaped gardens and parks pleases even the pickiest tourists. Here are few more interesting facts about this amazing city.

• Melbourne is the only city in the whole world that has five international standard sporting arenas.

• Every year Melbourne hosts some of the biggest sports events, such as the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open. Thanks to its amazing sport infrastructure, Melbourne is known as the “World’s Ultimate Sports City”.

• Melbourne is a city which is blessed with 480 hectares of gardens and parks.

• “The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang” is the first feature film that was shot in 1906 in Melbourne.

• Melbourne has the fourth largest tramway system in the world. With 450 trams, the tramway system stretches along 244 km.

• Luna Park, the oldest amusement park in the world is situated in Melbourne. It’s under private maintenance and management.

• The Swanston and Collins Streets intersection in Melbourne was the first intersection in Australia with traffic lights.

• The largest telescope in the world was installed in 1869 at the Melbourne Observatory. The telescope is known as the ‘Great Melbourne Telescope’ and has a reflector of 122 cm.
• The largest stained glass in the world can be found in “The National Gallery of Victoria”. It is 51 meters long and 15 meters wide.

• Melbourne has the most restaurants and cafes per capita than any other city or place in the world.