The Greek Precinct, Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, is a Greek cultural area centred on the eastern end of Lonsdale Street in the Melbourne city centre. [1] The area runs adjacent to Melbourne Chinatown on Little Bourke Street.
According to the 2016 Australian census, Melbourne has the largest Greek population in Australia with 173,598 Greeks, making up 3.87% of Greater Melbourne's population. Globally, Hellenic identity and values are passed on from one generation to the next and do not depend upon one's location in the world. As such, 88% of Greek Australians (regardless of country of birth) speak Greek and 91% are members of the Greek Orthodox Church. [2]
Australia and Greece have a close bilateral relationship based on historical ties and the rich contribution of Greek Australians to Australian society. In 2019, the export of Australian services to Greece was valued at $92 million, while services imports from Greece totalled $750 million. Australia's stock of investment in Greece in 2019 totalled $481 million. Investment in Australia from Greece was $192 million. [3]
As a result of the extensive historical and cultural ties between the Greek community of Melbourne and their Greek homeland, Melbourne is a sister city to Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city and cultural centre. [4]
The Greek Precinct is located between Swanston Street and Russell Street, along Lonsdale Street, in the Melbourne city centre. It is home to Greek restaurants Stalactites and Tsindos, and Caras Greek Shop, a Greek cultural shop. Located on the corner of Lonsdale Street and Russell Street is the Greek Community Centre of Melbourne, [5] and at 209 Lonsdale Street is the Sam Papasavas Building - the home of the Australia-Greek Learning and Resource Centre of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). [6]
In March 2009, the Government of Victoria and the City of Melbourne announced that the Greek Precinct would receive a A$3.5 million rejuvenation. [7]
The annual Melbourne Antipodes Festival is held on Lonsdale Street over a week in March, and has been held since 1987. The festival is renowned for its Lonsdale Street "Glendi" (Greek for "party") - a weekend-long event that is held to coincide with the Greek National Day (25 March). [8]
Antipodes brings a weekend of Greek culture, food and entertainment to Melbourne's historic Greek Precinct. The festival features three stages of free entertainment, children's rides and activities and over 60 food, drink and craft stalls. [9]
The annual Greek Film Festival is held in Melbourne over two weeks in September, and has been held since 1990. [10]
Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on the western end of the central business district. Docklands had a population of 15,495 at the 2021 census.
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in Australia, a founding member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), and a member of Universities Australia (UA).
State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the world. It is also Australia's busiest public library and, as of 2023, the third busiest library globally.
Thornbury is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km (4.3 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Darebin local government area. Thornbury recorded a population of 19,005 at the 2021 census.
QV Melbourne or just QV, is a precinct in the Melbourne CBD, Victoria, Australia. Covering the city block bounded by Lonsdale, Little Lonsdale, Swanston, and Russell Streets, and located next to the State Library of Victoria, QV comprises a large shopping centre, a central plaza, an underground food court, Melbourne city's first full-size supermarket and apartment buildings.
Greektown is a social and dining district, located on the Near West Side of Chicago. Today, Greektown consists mostly of restaurants and businesses, although a cultural museum and an annual parade and festival still remain in the neighborhood.
Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street extends from Spring Street in the east to Spencer Street in the west.
In Australia, Glendi is an annual weekend long festival that celebrates Greek culture in Australia. Established in 1978, it's held in Adelaide during the last weekend of November at Bonython Park since 2013 and is the largest ethnic festival in South Australia. The festival has been taking place for over 40 years. Glendi is the Greek word for "party" or "celebration".
The Melbourne central business district is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is located primarily within the local government area City of Melbourne, with some parts located in the City of Port Phillip.
The culture of Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, encompasses the city's artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements. Since its founding as a British settlement in 1835, Melbourne has been culturally influenced by European culture, particularly that of the British Isles. During the 1850s Victorian gold rush and in the decades that immediately followed, immigrants from many other parts of the world, notably China and the Americas, helped shape Melbourne's culture. Over time, Melbourne has become the birthplace of a number of unique cultural traits and institutions, and today it is one of the world's most multicultural cities.
Daryl Sanders Jackson is an Australian architect and the owner of an international architecture firm, Jackson Architecture. Jackson also became an associate professor at University of Melbourne and Deakin University.
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a 9,993 km2 (3,858 sq mi) metropolitan area also known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local government areas. The name is also used to specifically refer to the local government area named City of Melbourne, whose area is centred on the Melbourne central business district and some immediate surrounds.
RMIT Link is a division of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) around student life and historically was an unincorporated entity, the campus union of the RMIT in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was formed in 1968 and currently consists of the following branches: Arts and Culture, Sport, City Fitness, "Recreation", "Orientation and Transition" and Administration.
The Melbourne City campus of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is located in the city centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is sometimes referred to as "RMIT City" and the "RMIT Quarter" of the city in the media.
RMIT's School of Media and Communication is an Australian tertiary education school within the College of Design and Social Context at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, located in Melbourne, Victoria.
Little Italy in Victoria, Australia, is a Little Italy cultural precinct of the Italian community of Melbourne. It is situated along Lygon Street in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton.
The Melbourne central business district in Australia is home to numerous lanes and arcades. Often called "laneways", these narrow streets and pedestrian paths date mostly from the Victorian era, and are a popular cultural attraction for their cafes, bars and street art.
The Hellenic Museum is an art and history museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia promoting Hellenic culture, both ancient and contemporary, through programs, exhibitions and events.
Greeks of Melbourne compose one of the largest Greek diaspora communities in the world and Melbourne hosts the largest Greek-speaking population outside of Greece and Cyprus. According to the 2016 Australian census, Melbourne has the largest Greek population in Australia with 173,598 Greeks, making up 3.87% of Greater Melbourne's population. In Greek Australians, the Hellenic identity and values are passed down from one generation to the next. As such, 88% of Greek Australians speak Greek and 91% are members of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Emporium Melbourne is a luxury shopping centre on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Australia. Occupying the former Lonsdale Street site of Myer's Melbourne store, Emporium opened in 2014 following extensive redevelopment. The centre includes a food court, specialty stores and several multi-level anchor retailers. Emporium forms part of a 188,000 square metres (2,020,000 sq ft) precinct of linked shopping centres in the Melbourne central business district, which also includes the Myer and David Jones city stores, Melbourne Central, General Post Office and Elizabeth Street's The Strand.