subject: Goldfields Location: Bendigo Victoria [print this page] Goldfields Location: Bendigo Victoria Goldfields Location: Bendigo Victoria
The start of the gold rush era for Bendigo city was way back in 1851, where the fields were mostly inhabited by diggers until around the time the cities last gold mine shut down in 1954. This was largely for the fact of the depth and vast amount of water in the ever-deepening mines but with the latest technology, they have been able to continue gold mining and continue to do so today with reports of a large amount of gold still hidden within the cities goldfields.
Today, the city of Bendigo is proudly the second largest inland city in the state with around 88,000 residents (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Bendigo is located around 130 kms north-west of Melbourne and has the only provincially headquartered bank and stock exhange in the whole of Austraila, namely the Bendigo Bank and the BSX.
The Central Deborah Gold Mine welcomes hundreds of tourists as a well known tourist attraction in Bendigo. It was one of the last gold mines to stop operating in 1954, after a good fifteen mining years in which produced a notable 929 kgs of gold.
Being the countries third largest cathedral, The Sacred Heart Cathedral is located in the city of Bendigo while being said to be one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.
Bendigo is home to the Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia's oldest and largest regional art galleries which holds a fantastic collection on the Bendigo goldfields along with sculptures, paintings and decorative arts.
Another popular attraction in Bendigo is the Golden Dragon Museum, with a living history display of the Chinese people of Bendigo, from the gold rush era to today. Joss House was built by the Chinese diggers in the 1800's and is said to be the only surviving historic temple, in regional Victoria, still used as a place of worship.
Bendigo holds the Black Opal running race each year which is the richest professional 400m running race that attracts thousands of tourists over the popular two day event. Bendigo is also home to some fantastic festivals including the Bendigo Easter Festival aswell as the Dahlia and Arts Festival. Both of these events attract many visitors to the city and both are held annually.
The Bendigo National Swap Meet is for car enthusiasts across Australia which is held every year and is known as the biggest swap meet in the southern hemisphere.
The Bendigo Pottery Interpretive Museum is said to be the countries oldest functioning pottery and it holds the all heritage listed collection of wood-fired kilns.
