Royal Exhibition Building

Address 9 Nicholson Street, Carlton

The Royal Exhibition Building is the grand domed pavilion at the heart of the Carlton Gardens, built in 1880 for Melbourne's great International Exhibition at the height of the gold-rush boom that made the city, for a time, one of the richest in the world. Its enormous dome — modelled loosely on Florence's cathedral — still dominates the parkland, and the painted interior under the cupola is worth timing a visit around.

It remains a working exhibition hall, hosting trade shows, exams, and fairs, so public access to the interior is limited to guided tours (usually booked through the adjoining Melbourne Museum) or whatever event happens to be on. Even from the outside, set among the formal Victorian gardens with their fountains and avenues, it is one of Melbourne's most impressive sights and a direct link to the city's boom-era confidence.

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A story
In 1901 the Royal Exhibition Building hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia, when the country's separate colonies federated into a single nation. In 2004 it became the first building in Australia to be granted UNESCO World Heritage status, recognised as one of the last great surviving exhibition halls from the international exhibition movement of the 19th century.