Explore the Weekend's Heritage Highlights

Dive into Melbourne’s rich, remarkable history to discover the people and stories that have shaped the city’s identity today.

Kickstart your weekend on Friday with a visit to Boroondara Cemetery, where artist-turned-researcher Setken will reveal the fascinating history behind media mogul David Syme’s Egyptian temple-inspired tomb during A Monumental Egyptian Tomb.

Tour the Gothic Bank to appreciate Foolscap Studio’s careful restoration and reconfiguration of the building into the ANZ Banking Museum, before heading to the 2025 launch of Retrofit to hear more about adaptive reuse at the Melbourne School of Design (MSD).

Start Saturday off with a dive into Melbourne’s early-20th-century industrial growth, and see how these buildings have evolved with the city. Essendon Incinerator Complex was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin to look like a residential building, rather than an industrial one. Join a guided tour to hear about how it became an art gallery.

Likewise, The Substation was once used to help power Melbourne’s railways; now, it’s a cutting-edge experimental contemporary art space. Tour the space to learn about its original use and its refurbishment, or listen to CEO Nuala Furtado share her experiences in the art world.

Discover the stories of the people and communities who have made Melbourne what it is today, and the spaces where they’ve made the city their own. At St Mark’s in Fitzroy, hear stories about the church’s role in community activism via the interactive tour or audio histories. You’ll also get to see historic stained glass windows from the 1930s that were once part of Victoria’s first free children’s library during the Great Depression.

Nearby, take a tour of Cairo Flats, the original ‘minimum’ flats optimised for urban living designed by Best Overend in the 1930s and renovated by Agius Scorpo Architects in 2017.

If you’re feeling daring, climb onto the roof of Collingwood Yards (with a safety line and harness of course!) with a team member, or join a site tour. While you’re there, browse books on art, architecture and design at Bookshop by Uro and grab a bite on Smith Street.

Don’t miss the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, where you can join a First Nations Weaving Workshop with artist Lorraine Brigdale on Saturday, or, on Sunday, hear feminist historian Barbara Wheeler tell rarely-heard stories from the site’s time as the Queen Victoria hospital from 1896 to 1987.

On Sunday, tour of one of the few remaining 19th-century Victorian homes in St Kilda, Ulimaroa, now home to the Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and see how the past and present come together with ANZCA House behind it. Hear architect Norman Day speak in a panel discussion about the architecture.

Make your way north to La Trobe’s Cottage where you can explore one of Melbourne’s oldest surviving structures dating back to the 1830s with a National Trust guide. Nearby, you can see the Portable Iron Houses, manufactured in the UK and shipped to Australia as a solution to a lack of housing during the 1850s.

Continue north to the Boyd Community Hub in Southbank. Come explore one of the most significant 19th-century school buildings in the city, and its adjacent community garden with a self-guided tour pamphlet, available from the concierge.

For more 19th-century history, head out to Ziebell’s Farmhouse in Thomastown. The elegant bluestone farmhouse was built from local basalt in 1850 and was home to five generations of dairy farmers and their families.

Enjoy stepping back into Melbourne’s history!

The Victorian Heritage Register now includes more than 3,000 places and objects that are significant to the history and development of Victoria. It protects a variety of heritage, not just historic buildings. Heritage can be buildings, objects, collections, archaeological remains, gardens, shipwrecks and more.

Explore the Victorian Heritage Register

Heritage Highlights

A mausoleum resembling an Egyptian temple with sculpted capitals, rich copper and iron fittings, and aged tiles
Talk/Presentation, Film
A Monumental Egyptian Tomb In Melbourne

Friday 25 July, Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

Top Left - The Gothic Bank facade on Collins Street, Melbourne Top - The Gothic banking chamber and museum featuring the recently restore mosaic tiled floor from 1887 Bottom - The Verdon Chambers - former residence of Sir George Verdon, ES&A Bank General Manager
Open Access, Building Tour, Site Tour, Self Guided Tour, Exhibition
ANZ's Gothic Bank and Verdon Chambers

Friday 25 July, Sunday 27 July

Stairs in a modern office but with a vintage vibe. PLants surround the staircase.
Site Tour, Exhibition, Talk/Presentation
Retrofitting in Action: Transforming Our Homes for a Sustainable Future

Saturday 26 July

Image of Historical Incinerator building.
Open Access, Building Tour
Essendon Incinerator Complex

Saturday 26 July

Image 1: A photograph of the Main Space of the Substation. It is daytime and the building is filled with light. The room is full of people, and they are walking, standing and sitting around while they in the performance. People are laughing, talking and looking at laptop screens. There are red curtains, and the rigging with lights and speakers are visible. Image 2: Archival photograph of the exterior of The Substation when it was abandoned. The building is a large brick building and is run down. The windows a broken and boarded up and there is some graffiti on the walls. Image 3: Archival photograph of the interior of The Substation while it was being refurbished. Ther are temporary stairs set up in the foyer along with some scaffolding. There is a person on top of the scaffolding conducting restoration work to the wall. They are applying paint or render to the bricks. Image 4: Photographer of Tim Hecker’s performance at the Substation. Tim is on the stage like a DJ. He is silhouetted by bright orange and red-light beams radiating from behind him. It looks like a sunset. The audience has filled the room and are also silhouetted by the light. You can only see the backs of their heads as they watch Tim Hecker perform. Image 5: An image of the exterior of The Substation at nighttime. The Substation is bathed in warm yellow, orange and purple light.
Open Access, Building Tour, Talk/Presentation, Film, Self Guided Tour
The Substation

Friday 25 July, Saturday 26 July

1 Looking through trees without leaves to a church with a tall steeple and a rainbow behind the church. 2 Beautiful pink flowers on a tree with a church steeple behind. 3 Inside of church looking through elaborately carved woodwork through the church to beautiful stained-glass windows. 4 Coloured pencils and pens on a white table with colourful art works on top. 5 Two windows one painted with fairies playing in a pond and a poem underneath.
Self Guided Tour, Film, Building Tour, Workshop
St Mark’s Fitzroy: A Legacy of Activism

Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

Apartment interior looking towards hidden yellow kitchenette, with all doors fully opened, and black flooring
Building Tour
Cairo Flats

Saturday 26 July

Image 1: View of metal staircase and aerial catwalk on the external facade of the Johnston St Building at Collingwood Yards. Image 2: Art deco entrance to Collingwood Yards on Johnston St at night, with red feature lighting. Image 3: Keith Haring Mural on an exterior wall at Collingwood Yards Image 4: Aerial drone image of the whole Collingwood Yards site Image 4: View of the internal courtyard at Collingwood Yards, looking down from the brick balcony
Site Tour
Collingwood Yards

Friday 25 July, Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

Front entrance of the QVWC building at 210 Lonsdale Street.
Open Access, Exhibition, Talk/Presentation, Workshop
Hidden Stories of the Queen Victoria Women's Centre

Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

Image 1 A photograph of a six storey building with a concrete white facade and cut out windows with light shining through. On the left hand side the heritage listed building can be seen
Open Access, Building Tour, Talk/Presentation
Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists: Styles and Stories

Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

A white painted house with blue open shutters and spring-like garden.
Building Tour
La Trobe’s Cottage

Sunday 27 July

A photo of a cast iron house at 399 Coventry Street, South Melbourne. The house is double fronted, with a front door in the middle and two windows either side with white curtains which are pulled back from a centre opening. The cast iron sheets which cover the front of the house are vertical, except where they are horizontal under the windows. The cast iron sheets are painted a dull red. The front door is open and shows a straight passageway from the front of the house to the open back door. The house has a white picket fence and gate which is open and shows steep brick steps up to the veranda.
Open Access, Building Tour, Self Guided Tour
Portable Iron Houses

Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July

Image (1) Front entrance of the Boyd Community hub
Self Guided Tour, Open Access
Boyd Community Hub

Sunday 27 July

1. Older man with long beard and wearing a Fijian shirt sitting in farmhouse attic
Talk/Presentation, Building Tour, Site Tour
Stories From the Attic: An Exploration of Life in Melbourne's Germantown

Saturday 26 July, Sunday 27 July