Fitzroy Gardens is a small park of only 26 hectares on the the south-eastern tip of Melbourne's business centre. It was named in honour of Charles Augustus Fitzroy, governor of the state of New South Wales. Today, it is one of Australia's of Australia's major Victorian parks and, along with other "green islands", is one of Australia's along with other green islands, giving Melbourne the honour of being called the "Garden City".
The park is home to a number of important historical landmarks - most notably Captain Cook's Cottage, brought to Australia from England, and the brick cottage built in 1864. James Sinclair, a famous horticulturist who was directly involved in the in the creation of Fitzroy Gardens. Incidentally, he was also involved in the landscaping of Vorontsov's palaces in the Crimea and the Royal Garden in St Petersburg, for which he received the Imperial Order of St Anne from the hands of Nicholas I himself. Among other constructions The park includes a winter garden, an artificial lake, numerous fountains and sculptures, a rotunda and a model of a Tudor village.
But, of course, the park's main attraction is its amazing trees, planted along the many footpaths. Designed by the architect Clement Hodgkinson, Fitzroy Gardens was intended to be an open wooded with winding paths. The first trees to be planted in the park to create protective forest belts were fast-growing blue gums and Australian acacias. Then elms were planted along the walkways, which, when viewed from above, form the Union Flag, the national flag of the United Kingdom. В 1880s-90s many of the eucalyptus and elms were moved to other parks to make more space for other trees, as well as extensive lawns and ornamental flowerbeds.
A scarred tree can be seen in Fitzroy Gardens, on which a plaque with the following text: "Such scars were left on trees when the Aboriginal people stripped the bark to make canoes, shields, food and water containers and kangaroo bags for carrying babies and other items. Please respect this place. It is of great importance to the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people, the custodians of this land, and is part of the heritage of all Australians".
