Venue and Getting There

The venue will be in what is now the Hellenic Museum. This beautiful Melbourne building was constructed between 1869 and 1872 as the Australian Mint and is now classified by the National Trust. It served as the administrative building of the Mint and is regarded as one the finest examples of conservative classicism in the country, being modeled after Raphael's Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli (built c. 1524) in Rome. This grand building was designed by the renowned Colonial architect, J.J. Clark, who worked for the Public Works Office from the age of 14 in 1852 until 1878. Other structures that remain on the site are the guardhouse, the home of residential guards, and the iron gates and perimeter wall.

Although the functional buildings such as the coining hall, and the melting and assay departments are now gone, gold coins were minted on this site from 1872 until about 1931, while other coins continued to be minted there till 1968, when decimal currency was introduced as the official Australian currency and the minting of coins was moved to Canberra.

Now it is the home of the Hellenic Museum, founded in 2007 by Spiros Stamoulis and dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of the rich cultural traditions of ancient and contemporary Greece in this part of the world. With the collaboration of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Hellenic Mueum, a not-for-profit organisation, develops programs and exhibitions which reflect the contribution that Hellenisim has made in history, the arts and culture.

The Museum is at 280 William Street near the corner with La Trobe Street on the edge of the Melbourne CBD and close to local trams and opposite Flagstaff Station on the underground city train loop. It has a lovely grassed courtyard at the back, the Secret Garden, which will be a nice space for the morning and afternoon breaks in the fine Melbourne weather (if there is such a thing!).

Exhibition February 2012: Journey on the Waves of History
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