Flinders Street, street in Melbourne
Flinders Street is a main road in central Melbourne, running east to west and forming the southern edge of the city grid along the Yarra River. Along its length, you find office buildings, cafes, shops, and arts venues, with the yellow sandstone station building and its copper dome marking the corner of Swanston Street.
Flinders Street was laid out in 1837 as part of Melbourne's original city plan, when the area along the Yarra River was used for warehouses and port activity. Over the following decades, as the city expanded, the street gradually shifted from a working waterfront into a central commercial and transport corridor.
The phrase "meet me under the clocks" refers to the spot beneath the row of clocks at the station entrance on Flinders Street, a meeting point locals have used for generations. This habit is still alive today, and you will often see people waiting there, looking up at the clock faces.
The street is easy to walk, with wide footpaths and pedestrian crossings at every main intersection. Trams stop at several points along the route, so you can hop on or off depending on how much of the street you want to cover on foot.
The Young and Jackson Hotel, on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Street, has displayed a large painting of "Chloe" by Jules Joseph Lefebvre since the 1880s, a work that caused controversy when first shown in Melbourne. The painting hangs upstairs in the pub and can be seen by anyone who walks in.
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