Bits of St Kilda
Fashionable, trendy and home to the best footy team in Australia, St Kilda is fun place to come on hot days like these.
St Kilda was named after a schooner, which was moored off the beach for most of 1841, by Victoria’s first governor, Charles La Trobe. The area has slowly grown and after the Second World War was an over populated suburb of Melbourne. Since then it has been Melbourne’s red light district and the Bohemian suburb (filled as it was in the 1960s with artists, poets and musicians). Changes and improved quality began to push up house prices and so the area has now become the St Kilda we know and love.
Getting off the tram on Fitzroy St and walking down to Catani Gardens, a statue of Captain James Cook and the War Memorial (The Path of Duty is the Way to Glory) can be seen along with the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron building.
Walking along the beach there are plenty of opportunities for good coffee at the Sea Baths and a walk along St Kilda Pier before coming around to Luna Park and the Palais Theatre.
The current Palais Theatre was built in 1927 in the Art Deco style. Once a movie theatre it’s usage changed over the years and is now one of Melbourne’s most popular live music venues.
In keeping with some of the similarities of Coney Island, New York, St Kilda had it’s own Luna Park built in 1912. The famous face entrance and Scenic Railway are all that remain of the original amusement park. The railway is the world’s oldest operating roller coaster.
