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Being the 3. biggest city of Victoria State in Australia, Ballarat is located in the west of Melbourne. You can reach the city from Melbourne by train or bus within around 1-1.5 hours. Ballarat has had a rapid development since the richest alluvial gold yields were discovered here in 1850s. In 1855, Ballarat became a city with a population of 100 thousand. When the number of digging increased, so did the prosperity in the city and modern public and private buildings were established, the number of the people who wanted to invest on the city also increased accordingly. It is possible to see golden engravings and platings and many other details in both interior decoration and facades of most of the historical buildings in the city; especially, Ballarat City Hall, built between 1870-1872, Majesty's Theatre built in 1875, and Craig’s Hotel. You can also see at every step the fountains, sculptures etc. they built during this period they call as “Golden Rush”. One of the most crowded spots of the city, The Avenue of Honour starts at the intersection of Sturt and Learmonth streets located 4 kilometres west to the city centre and goes along 22 km. You can see gold mine pits in Sovereign Hill, one of the interesting places of Ballarat nowadays, and then visit Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka and get informed about Eureka Stockade Rebellion the miners started for their rights against the authorities in 1854. Wendouree Lake is an artificially-created lake, with 200 hectares of space, located a few kilometres west to the city centre and it is important especially for the locals, due to the fact that canoe racings were organized in 1956 Olimpic Games in this lake. There are birdwatching places, picnic areas, botanical gardens, a long avenue with the bronze busts of all the Australian Prime Ministers; namely, The Prime Ministers Avenue, and magnificent Wendouree Parade around the lake. Electric Tramway serves from botanical garden to the lakeside each hour of the day.