Australia’s Royal Exhibition Building

The Royal Exhibition Building, located in Melbourne, Australia’s  is one of the country’s cherished sites. But its importance stands out not only in Australia, but throughout the world. It gained the honor of being designated a world heritage site on July 1, 2004.
This is the only 19th century Great Hall in Australia, and also among the few ones throughout the world. Many of the other buildings that were designed to house international exhibitions either no longer exist or have been drastically changed.
The architect of this splendid piece of architecture was Joseph Reed. The building also involves various elements of  Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance styles.
Two notable events took place in the Royal Exhibition Building’s history – the opening of the Australian Parliament in 1901 and the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888. The latter was devoted to the commemoration of the century-old European settlement in Australia. The Melbourne Centennial Exhibition was open even at night due to the electric lighting. Before that you could find no exhibition at night time.
The building has even hosted basketball, weightlifting and wrestling competitions in the 1956 Summer Olympics.
The Royal Exhibition Building is surrounded by most splendid Carlton Gardens. With its magnificent fountains, and formal garden beds, it makes the scenery spectacular.