Victoria Square, Adelaide
Victoria Square is a public square in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The square is in the centre of the city's grid of one square mile, and was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after Princess Victoria, heir presumptive of the British throne.[1] Less than a month later the King died and Victoria became Queen. The Kaurna know the area as Tarndanyangga and in line with the Adelaide City Council's recognition of Kaurna country, it is officially referred to as Victoria Square / Tarndanyangga.
A statue of Queen Victoria stands in the centre of the square. The fountain in the north of the square was designed by artist John Dowie to represent the three rivers from which Adelaide receives most of its water—the Torrens, the Onkaparinga and the Murray. During the Christmas period, a 24.5m high Christmas tree is erected in the square.
Victoria Square is bordered by numerous public institutions, including the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Adelaide Magistrate's Court, the Federal Court of Australia, the Treasury and the Adelaide General Post Office. On the eastern side is the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St Francis Xavier and the SA Water Headquarters. The Torrens Building, home to a number of community organisations, is now also used by the Heinz College Australia, an international campus of Carnegie Mellon University. The Adelaide Central Market is located to the west of the Square.
King William Street passes through the square making a diamond shape with the southbound carriageway passing through the east side, and the northbound carriageway passing through the west side of the square. The square is bisected by a piece of road (technically part of the square) that connects Wakefield Street (entering from the east) with Grote Street (to the west). A tram stop (formerly the terminus) for the Glenelg Tram is in the southern part of the square; it was shifted from the centre to the western edge of the square on 6 August 2007, as part of the extension that was made to the tram line around that time.[2]
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Victoria Square looking north
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Victoria Square looking south
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Victoria Square fountain
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Fountain in Victoria Square at night
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Victoria Square looking north before the Tramline extension, 2006
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H-class tram at Victoria Square Terminus, 2005
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The Premier and Minister of Transport opening the Tramline extension, 14 October 2007
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Tramline extension in use
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Samuel Way Building, the District Court of South Australia
[edit] References
- ^ "History of Adelaide through street names - Land forms". www.historysouthaustralia.net. http://www.historysouthaustralia.net/STsquare.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
- ^ "Tramline Extension". www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au. http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/tramline_extension/content/news.html. Retrieved 2008-04-09.[dead link]
Coordinates: 34°55′50″S 138°36′15″E / 34.93056°S 138.60417°E
