Events

Event Details

Visitors to Old Treasury Building will discover one of Melbourne’s most beautiful buildings and gain a fascinating glimpse into Victoria’s past. Old Treasury Building is widely regarded as one of the finest nineteenth century government buildings in Australia. It was designed in 1862 by the remarkable nineteen-year-old architect John James Clark. The building originally housed the offices of the Governor, Premier, Treasurer and Auditor-General. It still has a role in Victoria’s democracy with the Governor and the Executive Council meeting in the Executive Council Chamber weekly to sign off legislation.Old Treasury Building has a fascinating permanent exhibition based on fascinating and rare documents and their stories form the State Archives- Ned Kelly, the Eureka Stockade, William Barak, and nineteenth century Chinese. The intriguing gold vaults host a multimedia exhibition ‘Built on Gold’, which follows the journey of gold from the Victorian diggings, as it passed through the hands of gold buyers and occasional bushrangers. The vaults are where the Old Treasury’s caretaker, John Maynard and his wife and their eight children lived in the 1920s. Visitors glimpse their life below stairs as they wander through their living rooms. Visit ‘Trams: Moving Pictures’ temporary exhibition and see contemporary artists -Lin Onus, Clifton Pugh, Brett Colquhoun, Michael Leunig, Mirka Mora, etc and the pop group ‘Mental as Anything’ fantastic and vibrant images they painted in the 1970s and 1980s on Melbourne’s iconic W class trams. The exhibition also features rare and historic photos of cable and electric trams and a historic 1910 film of Melbourne cable trams rattling though the city, tram memorabilia and stories.