Take a walk or ride on Bendigo's talking tram and explore the city's heritage architecture. Don a miner's hat and dig up a wealth of goldrush history on a tour of the Central Deborah Mine, or explore the city's Chinese heritage at the Golden Dragon Museum. Get behind the wheel at Australia's oldest working pottery, Bendigo Pottery, or admire the delightful conservatory, cascade waterfall and open-air fernery of Rosalind Park.
Discover Bendigo's vibrant arts precinct while wandering along View Street. Pop into the Bendigo Art Gallery (1887), which contains a collection of Australian art dating back to the 1850s and attracts significant exhibitions from across the globe. Explore the host of smaller galleries and antique stores around town and take a stroll down Chancery and Bath Lanes for an encounter with colourful street art.
For performing arts, catch shows big and small at the elegant Capital Theatre (1873) and the Ulumbarra Theatre, a striking complex on the grounds of the historic Sandhurst Gaol.
As of June 2018, Bendigo had an urban population of 99,122, making it the fourth-largest inland city in Australia and fourth-most populous city in the state.
It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Bendigo, which encompasses both the urban area and outlying towns with over 111,000 people.
On 30 October 2019 Bendigo was admitted to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the Category of Gastronomy. Bendigo and region's core gastronomy themes are; a 40,000 year old sustainable food system through the Dja Dja Wrung people and the need to heal the landscape following colonialization and gold mining, the creativity and innovation of the community and of our food producers, health and nutrition and the role of food in inclusion and community wellbeing, and the importance of developing a sustainable food system in an era of climate change.
The discovery of gold in the soils of Bendigo during the 1850s made it one of the most significant Victorian-era boom towns in Australia. News of the finds intensified the Victorian gold rush, bringing an influx of migrants to the city from around the world within a year and transforming it from a sheep station to a major settlement in the newly proclaimed Colony of Victoria.
Once the alluvial gold had been mined out, mining companies were formed to exploit the rich underground quartz reef gold. Since 1851, about 780,000 kilograms (25 million troy ounces) of gold have been extracted from Bendigo's goldmines, making it the highest producing goldfield in Australia in the 19th century and the largest gold-mining economy in eastern Australia.
It is also notable for its Victorian architectural heritage. The city took its name from the Bendigo Creek and its residents from the earliest days of the gold rush have been called "Bendigonians".
Although the town flourished in its beginnings as a result of the discovery of gold, it experienced a reversal of fortune in the early 20th century. However, its growth accelerated in the postwar years and has continued to increase steadily since. (Taken from: Wikipedia)
