page_title: Shrine of Remembrance
section_title: Construction and dedication: 1927–1934
hierarchical_section_title: Shrine of Remembrance / History / Construction and dedication: 1927–1934
context_page_description: The Shrine of Remembrance is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war. It is a site of annual observances for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day, and is one of the largest war memorials in Australia.
  Designed by architects Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop, both World War I veterans, the Shrine is in classical style, based on the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The crowning element at the top of the ziggurat roof references the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.
  Built from Tynong granite, the Shrine originally consisted only of the central sanctuary surrounded by the ambulatory. The sanctuary contains the marble Stone of Remembrance, upon which is engraved the words "Greater love hath no man"; once per year, on 11 November at 11 a.m., a ray of sunlight shines through an aperture in the roof to light up the word "Love" in the inscription.
context_section_description: The foundation stone was laid on 11 November 1927, by the Governor of Victoria, Lord Somers. Although both the Victorian and Commonwealth governments made contributions, most of the cost of the Shrine (£160,000 out of a total of £250,000; equating to about £ 9.6 million out of £ 15 million in 2020) was raised in less than six months by public contributions, with Monash as chief fundraiser.
  Monash, who was also an engineer, took personal charge of the construction, which began in 1928 and was handled by the contractors Vaughan & Lodge. Monash died in 1931, before the Shrine was finished, but the Shrine was the cause "closest to his heart" in his later years.
  Work was finally completed in September 1934, and the Shrine was formally dedicated on 11 November 1934 by the Duke of Gloucester, witnessed by a crowd of over 300,000 people—a "massive turnout" given that Melbourne's population at the time was approximately 1 million, and, according to Carl Bridge, the "largest crowd ever to assemble in Australia to that date".
caption: The Shrine in the 1930s showing the reflecting pool in front of the north face, where the World War II Forecourt is now located
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