30 April 2025
This was always a landmark for me coming into town from Camberwell as a kid – a very grand church on the corner of Power Street and Wallen Road Hawthorn. It’s actually not a church, but a Shrine, dedicated to St Anthony of Padua, patron saint of the lost. It’s one of the last churches built in Melbourne with such traditional features, in a stylised Romanesque, complete with spire, built 1962-69. Inside it’s even more traditional, with a coffered ceiling and lots of classical shrines and altars, most imported from Italy, and a lot of frescoes (not my photos). It’s run by the Capuchins, and very much a pillar of the Italian community, and one of the first purpose built by and for them- it’s a long way from the postwar Italian home of Carlton though, because the church had previously purchased the two Victorian houses on the corner, and gave them to the Capuchins after inviting them to Victoria in 1949. The houses are still there, behind gardens, with the church basically occupying their backyards (!). The architect was Gregore Hirsch, another long story, Romanian Jewish, India in the 40s and converted, here 1948, quite successful but mostly in modern styles. Last thing, the copper top of the spire decayed and was replaced in the early 2010s with a less steep version, and no angel. My photos 2014.
Storey of Melbourne 