City Museum at Old Treasury

Designed by the architect J. J. Clarke (when he was only 19) and built in 1857, the Old Treasury Building is an imposing neoclassical sandstone structure that once housed precious metal from the Ballarat and Bendigo gold rushes. The gold was stored in eight thick-walled vaults underground and protected by iron bars. Today the building tells the story of Melbourne through several permanent exhibits and a variety of changing ones. "Making Melbourne" tells the city's history, while "Built on Gold" shows how Melbourne was built using the profits from the gold rushes. In the basement are the restored quarters of a caretaker who lived there from 1916 to 1928. Allow about 1 hour.

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