Ask Melbourne residents for a list of must-see places in the city, and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will surely be there. Listen to the advice of experienced people and take some time to explore its exhibition, even if you are not a big fan of art. You will get more than just another tick in your «To-do» list: you will immerse yourself in the amazing creative atmosphere and get a lot of inspiration in advance.

The NGV is Australia's oldest, largest, and most visited public art gallery. It opened its doors in the early sixties of the 19th century when the gold rush began in Victoria. By the end of the decade, the institution had established an art school, which became the Alma mater for many Australian painters of that time. Thanks to their effort, talent, and the economic situation in the country, the NGV managed to collect an impressive collection of works by local and international artists. Today, the number of its exhibits includes at least 70 thousand unique works.

You will see the great paintings of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, Paolo Veronese, Sir Anthony van Dyck, Dosso Dossi, Giannino Castiglioni, Claude Monet, Marco Palmezzano, Pablo Picasso, Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Tintoretto, Paolo Uccello and other world-famous painters.

The treasury of the NGV includes not only works of Australian, Asian and European art, but also objects of culture and life of local aborigines, collections of ancient Greek vases, Egyptian artifacts, world ceramics, and much more. When you walk through the halls, be prepared for the fact that you will get an unfamiliar inspiring feeling – this is a side effect of time travel, which you can feel in these walls.

Keep in mind that you will have to travel a lot. In 2003, the collections of the NGV were divided into two major parts. One of them, the Gallery of International Art, is located in the heart of the cultural quarter in the St Kilda district opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. The second collection, the Ian Potter Center, occupied a building in Fed Square on the other side of the Yarra River.