Sovereign Hill, Open-air museum in Ballarat, Australia.
Sovereign Hill is an open-air museum in Golden Point, Ballarat, that recreates a complete mining settlement from the 1850s. More than sixty buildings spread across the site show shops, workshops and houses where staff in period clothing work.
The site opened in 1970 and refers to the first decade after 1851, when the discovery of gold drew thousands of people to Ballarat. Within a few years the area became the largest inland settlement in the colony of Victoria.
The name refers to a steep hill once regarded as the treasure ground of early prospectors because of its gold-rich soil. Families today walk between the blacksmith shop, apothecary and schoolroom, watching people in everyday 19th-century clothing pull candles or bake bread.
The museum closes on Mondays and opens the rest of the week from mid-morning until early evening. Visitors can work at gold-panning troughs, enter underground tunnels and follow demonstrations in different craft houses.
In a daily demonstration staff melt pure gold and pour it into a bar mold in front of visitors. The finished bar weighs around 26 pounds (12 kilograms) and carries a value of several hundred thousand dollars.
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