Marvellous Melbourne’s mosaic parade – the L-shaped arcade where doing the Block named a ritual, scones at Hopetoun its sacrament since 1892.
At a glance
- Type
- Shopping arcade
- Period
- 1891-1893
- Style
- Victorian Mannerist
- Location
- Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia
- Coordinates
- -37.8157, 144.9646
- Architect
- David C. Askew (after Milan’s Galleria)
Overview
The Block Arcade of 1893 – land-boom Melbourne quoting Milan’s Galleria – runs mosaic floors (a million tesserae) beneath a glass dome between Collins and Elizabeth streets, the stage of doing the Block: the promenade ritual that named the building. The Hopetoun Tea Rooms, serving since opening, window their cake parade to the queue.
History
Marvellous Melbourne’s 1880s wealth – gold’s second generation – built arcadia before the 1893 crash; the Block survived as gentility’s preserve. Heritage listing keeps milliners’ descendants and chocolate’s artisans; the dome’s lantern crowns Victorian retail’s southern summit.
Architecture and Design
Askew’s etched-glass canopy lights carrara and Broseley tile’s rosettes; wrought balconies ring the rotunda’s junction. The Collins facade’s six storeys of Mannerist exuberance announce the interior’s polish.
Cultural significance
The Block is Australia’s arcade aristocrat – boom-era Europe transplanted – and Melbourne’s laneway culture’s Victorian ancestor.
Visiting today
Open daily; Hopetoun’s high tea books ahead – the window suffices many. Royal Arcade’s Gog and Magog chime two blocks on.
Getting there
Collins Street trams stop at the door; Flinders Street station walks three minutes.
Sources and resources
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