37 Facts About Bendigo

Bendigo is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately 150 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.

Bendigo became eastern Australia's largest 19th-century gold-mining economy and the wealth generated during this period is reflected today in the city's Victorian architectural heritage.

Selection in the future county of Bendigo commenced under the Land Act of 1865, with most settlement occurring around Sandhurst and Eaglehawk.

Bendigo is credited with the popular cottage design with verandahs decorated in iron lace, a style that was adopted across the state of Victoria.

In 1994, under municipal reforms of Victoria's Kennett government, the City of Bendigo was abolished and merged with the Borough of Eaglehawk, the Huntly and Strathfieldsaye shires, and the Rural City of Marong to form the larger City of Greater Bendigo.

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Bendigo is currently one of the fastest-growing regional centres in Victoria.

Bendigo has a relatively dry temperate climate with hot summers and cool winters.

Bendigo was in severe drought from 2006 to 2010, and during this time, the city had some of the harshest water restrictions in Australia, with no watering outside the household.

Bendigo was affected by the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

Bendigo is home to the largest stupa in the Western world, the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, which houses the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, the world's largest gem-quality jade Buddha statue.

Bendigo has several suburbs, some of which were once independent satellite townships and many that extend into the surrounding bushland.

Many other examples of Bendigo's classical architecture rank amongst the finest classical commercial buildings in Australia and include the Colonial Bank building and the former Masonic Hall, which is a performing-arts centre.

In November 2019 Bendigo was recognised as a United Nations' City of Gastronomy.

Bendigo is home to a number of amateur theatre groups including the Bendigo Theatre Company, Tribe Youth Theatre, and Nexus Youth Theatre.

Bendigo Town Hall hosts music concerts, and is a primary venue for the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival.

Musicians originally from Bendigo include Patrick Savage – film composer and former principal first violin of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

In terms of Australian rules, Bendigo Gold were a semiprofessional team that competed in the Victorian Football League until 2014.

The Bendigo region is home to the historic Bendigo Football League, a strong Australian rules competition featuring ten teams from throughout the region.

One of the league's founding member clubs, the Bendigo-based Sandhurst Football Club, was founded in 1861, making it one of the world's oldest football clubs.

Bendigo Stadium hosted basketball games during the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Bendigo was the host to the second Commonwealth Youth Games, held from 30 November to 3 December 2004, and will serve as one of the hosts for the regional 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria.

Bendigo's growth has stimulated growth in small surrounding rural towns .

Bendigo is popular with heritage tourists and cultural tourists with the focus of tourism on the city's gold rush history.

Main retail centre of Bendigo is the central business district, with the suburbs of Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, Golden Square, Strathdale, and Epsom having shopping districts.

The bank is headquartered in Bendigo and is a major employer in the city .

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Bendigo provides services to a large agricultural and grazing area on the Murray plains to its north.

Gold at Bendigo was found in quartz reef systems, hosted within highly deformed mudstones and sandstones or were washed away into channels of ancient rivers.

Until overtaken in the 1890s by the Western Australia goldfields, Bendigo was the most productive Australian gold area, with a total production over 622 tonnes .

Large amount of gold remains in the Bendigo goldfields, estimated to be at least as much again as what has been removed.

Bendigo is connected via the Calder Freeway to Melbourne, which is fewer than two hours by car.

Many other regional centres are connected to Melbourne via Bendigo, making it a gateway city in the transport of produce and materials from northern Victoria and the Murray to the Port of Melbourne and beyond.

Bendigo is served by an extensive bus network that radiates mostly from the CBD with the main terminus at the railway station towards the suburbs.

Trams in Bendigo have historically operated an extensive network as a form of public transport, but the remains of the network were reduced to a tourist service in 1972.

Bendigo is served by the Bendigo Airport, which is located to the north of the city on the Midland Highway.

In 2016, Bendigo Airport was upgraded with a new taxiway system, new lighting, and a new 1.

Bendigo is served by a privately owned smaller surgical facility, the Bendigo Day Surgery.

Bendigo is entitled to a portion of the water in Lake Eppalock, an irrigation reservoir on the Campaspe River.