For decades, Melbourne was the second city of the British Empire and the first of Australia. Capital of Victoria county, the city and its port were soon to become the main entry point for gold prospectors intent on digging for the recently discovered precious metal. Over two centuries, Melbourne was able to build on this impetus and develop along the sides of the river Yarra to become a major city, on a par with the most important western cities, a place where sky-scrapers live cheek by jowl with Victorian mansions, relics of British colonisation.