Recently my dear friend Merry and myself headed off to Melboure for a weekend of shopping, shooting photos and some general R & R. If one has an interest in historical archetecture then Melbourne is filled with wonderful old buildings to browze through.
We stayed at the Sebel opposite the beautiful old ANZ Bank and Banking Museum. The building was constructed in 1853 and has been lovingly restored to it's former glory. The cathedral ceiling have to be seen to be believed with their ornate decoration. The teller's boxes are the original ones built from mahognany and as I stood in the bank I felt that I had indeed, stepped back in time. The outside fascia is amazingly clean and each corner is decorated with human faces and ugly gargoyles. Now the gargoyle's grotesque form was said to scare off evil spirits so they were used for protection.
I was in awe of the amount of work involved in chiselling out such stonmasonary back in those days. You have to remember that there would have been no moulds back then. It was worth the trip just to visit this historical site.
While riding a tram around town Meryn and I met a couple from southern Victoria who were also visitng. The husband told us of a wonderful old hotel in Melbourne that we headed off to see. The foyer had a magnificent old stair case made from Rosewood. The winding stair and banister was breathtaking and reminded me of something in Gone With The Wind. 
The ornate cornices and rosettes on the ceilings were also beautifully maintained. 
The ornate cornices and rosettes on the ceilings were also beautifully maintained. 
It is hard to believe that they have stood the test of time for over 150 years and now we were lucky enough to capture them on our cameras.
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