Block Arcade

The Block Arcade is Melbourne's finest Victorian-era shopping arcade, running between Collins Street and Little Collins Street with a branch through to Elizabeth Street. Built in 1892 at the height of Melbourne's gold-rush prosperity, the arcade is decorated with mosaic floors, intricate plasterwork ceilings, and ornate wrought-iron balconies. It is heritage-listed and in excellent condition.

The tenants include some of Melbourne's oldest institutions: Haigh's Chocolates, the Hopetoun Tea Rooms (a cafe operating since 1892), and various jewellers and gift shops. Even if you are not buying anything, the arcade is worth walking through for the architecture alone. It connects nicely with the Royal Arcade next door, and the two together make a good circuit from the main shopping streets.

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A story
The Block Arcade takes its name from "doing the block" — the fashionable late-Victorian practice of promenading around the four Collins Street blocks between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets. In the 1890s, seeing and being seen on Collins Street was Melbourne's primary social ritual, and the Block Arcade, opened in 1892, was its grandest stage. The mosaic floor in the central hall was imported from Italy and remains largely original.

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