Lygon Street, Melbourne
Encyclopedia
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
running through the suburbs of Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
, Carlton North
Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra...
, Princes Hill
Princes Hill, Victoria
Princes Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
and Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
. Lygon Street's name has become synonymous with Italian restaurants and cafés located in the Carlton part of the street. It was a place of celebration when Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
won the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
.
Geography
Lygon Street runs north-south through the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. At its southernmost end, it connects to Russell StreetRussell Street, Melbourne
Russell Street is a north-south street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837. At its southern end it intersects with Flinders Street and Federation Square, while at its northern end it becomes Lygon Street, a street famous for its...
in the Hoddle Grid
Hoddle Grid
The Hoddle Grid is the layout of the streets in the centre of the central business district of Melbourne. Named after its designer, Robert Hoddle, the Grid was laid out in 1837, and later extended...
; it then proceeds northward, through Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
, Carlton North
Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra...
, and Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
, to its intersection with Albion Street. Although the roadway itself continues, it is re-named Holmes Street for the stretch between Albion Street and Moreland Road, and later renamed again to Nicholson Street for the stretch between Moreland Road and the street's terminus at Bell Street. (Note that this is not continuous with the Nicholson Street
Nicholson Street, Melbourne
Nicholson Street is a street in inner Melbourne. It is named after William Nicholson, then member of the Legislative Council, and later Premier of Victoria from 1859 to 1860.-Geography:...
which runs through the Melbourne CBD, Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
, Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
and Brunswick East.) North of Park Street, the street numbers restart at 1.
Tram routes 1
Melbourne tram route 1
Tram route 1 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the terminus at Nicholson Street and Bell Street in East Coburg to the corner of Victoria Avenue and Beaconsfield Parade in Albert Park....
and 8
Melbourne tram route 8
Tram route 8 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from Toorak to Moreland through the suburbs of Carlton and South Yarra...
run along Lygon Street between Elgin Street, Carlton, and Albion Street, Brunswick East.
Italian restaurant district
The Italian restaurant synonymous with Lygon Street occupies the few blocks between Victoria StreetVictoria Street, Melbourne
Victoria Street is one of the major thoroughfares of inner Melbourne. Running east to west, Victoria Street touches the Hoddle Grid at the intersection of La Trobe Street and Spring Street, opposite the Carlton Gardens. It runs from its terminus at the intersection of Munster Terrace in North...
and Elgin Street in Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
. The area is heavily European in nature, and is the home of the yearly Lygon Street Festa, one of Australia's largest outdoor street festivals. The La Mama Theatre
La Mama Theatre (Melbourne)
The La Mama Theatre is a theatrical venue located at 205 Faraday St, Carlton, Victoria. It opened in a former factory building on 30 July 1967 and still operates today under the direction of Liz Jones....
and Courthouse Theatre are also in this area, as is the heritage-listed neon sign at Borsari's Corner
Borsari's Corner, Melbourne
Borsari's Corner is at the intersection of Lygon Street and Grattan Street, in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. The corner is named after Nino Borsari, a member of the Gold medal winning Italian pursuit cycling team at the 1932 Olympics, who was competing in Australia when World War II broke out....
, named after Italian cyclist Nino Borsari, on the corner of Grattan Street. Toto's Pizza House
Toto's Pizza House
Toto's Pizza House is the first pizzeria established in Australia. Toto's opened for business on 7 July 1961 in Lygon Street, Carlton, where the business has remained since. Toto's was originally owned by Salvatore Della Bruna, who operated the business in partnership with Franco Fera and in 1968...
, the first pizzeria established in Australia, has been located at the southern end of Lygon Street continuously since its opening in 1961.
Other points of interest
Melbourne Trades Hall occupies the corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Street. Melbourne General CemeteryMelbourne General Cemetery
The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North.-History:...
is situated on the western side of Lygon Street in North Carlton, between Cemetery Road and Macpherson Street. A new addition is the East Brunswick Club which opened its doors as a music venue at the northern end of the street in May 2006. Lamb's Souvlaki is a popular restaurant on the strip which operates 24 hours a day. Another point of interest is that Lygon Street was the main headquarters of an Italian Australian criminal organisation called The Carlton Crew
The Carlton Crew
The Carlton Crew is an Italian-Australian criminal organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria. It is so called because the members commonly met in Lygon St, Carlton, commonly called "Little Italy"....
.