Day 7: Salamanca Place

Salamanca is located along the edges of the Derwent river just a short 5 min walk from the Hobart CBD. Salamanca is home to some of Tasmania’s most recognisable sandstone buildings and heritage architecture. This area is also the Heart of Hobart’s nightlife being home to a majority of the best Restaurants, Bars and nightclubs. Salamanca is also deeply integrated into Tasmania’s tourism sector with Salamanca’s Weekly Market being held along Salamanca Place every Saturday. Along with Brooke Street Pier home to the Mona Ferry’s and the Peppermint Bay Cruise as well as an indoor shopping market which showcases some of Tasmania’s most unique businesses.

Salamanca Place

Salamanca Place is a historic docks area of Hobart lined with a long row of simple Georgian sandstone warehouses built in the 1830s. These mellow north-facing buildings once stored grain, wool, whale oil, apples and imported goods from around the world. Rows of Georgian era sandstone warehouses that once serviced the ocean going clippers have been converted into a plaza of restaurants and shop, with pubs, artists, galleries, craft shops and nightlife adding to the relaxed atmosphere of the place after sundown.

The name Salamanca Place recalls a town in Spain which the Allied army led by the Duke of Wellington took on 17th June 1812 during the Peninsula War (1808-14). Castray Esplanade, which adjoins Salamanca Place, recalls Luke Richard Castray, Hobart’s Commissioner General who conceived and designed the roodway as a link between the wharves on Sullivan’s Cove and Battery Point.

Salamanca Arts Centre

We also wandered around Salamanca Arts Centre which hosts artist studios, galleries, venues, retail outlets, arts organisations and public spaces, housed in the historic sandstone warehouses.

Salamanca Square

Salamanca Square began its life as a quarry that dates back to the earliest days of the Sullivan’s Cove settlement in the early 19th Century.

The quarry is still visible behind the modern apartments and shops that line the Square and stands as a significant symbol of Hobart’s history and the sweat and toil of our convicts and early settlers.

Hundreds of convicts were used to quarry out the cliffs, cut the stone and build the row of beautiful Georgian sandstone warehouses that were built in the 1830 that front the Square.

In 1995, after considerable opposition from the Battery Point Progress Association and the Salamanca Traders Association, the Hobart City Council approved a development application for the Salamanca Quarry, which resulted in the creation of Salamanca Square.

Comprising apartments, shops, restaurants, offices and a public space, the Square was completed in 1997.

Today Salamanca Square offers a piazza space for relaxing and entertainment.

Happy Birthday Mr President

This is a large scale sculpture of a dog photographer and a rabbit in a Marilyn Monroe pose.

Rabbitwoman and Dogman represent a loving friendship between a very unlikely couple. Their very existence helps us become more open-minded. Through sculpture, the humbling of mankind can be further intensified. Portraying Rabbitwoman as the iconic Marilyn Monroe being photographed by one of the artist’s paparazzi dogs, highlights our obsession with celebrities in an amusing way. Using humour is both an accessible and enjoyable way to re-examine our relationship with celebrities.