Government Gardens

View in Government Gardens with the timber-framed Rotorua Museum, previously the Bath House
Croquet lawn in Government Gardens
Historic view of Government Gardens with the ornamental lake and the Bath House

Government Gardens (originally known as Paepaekumana) is a public park, partly laid out as gardens, located by Lake Rotorua in central Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand.[1]

Facilities

The Rotorua Museum of Art and History, housed in the old Bath House building, looks over Government Gardens. There are sports facilities, including the Blue Baths swimming pool, a bowling green, and a croquet lawn. There is also a bandstand. The Polynesian Spa is close by, beside Lake Rotorua.

History

This site is of historical significance to the local Maori people, with battles having been fought here.[1] The Maori gave 50 acres of land here to the British Crown in the late 1800s. The New Zealand government opened a large bath house here in 1908. In 1933 a second building, the Blue Baths, opened.[2] The Blue Baths were closed in the 1980s, but have now been restored. The original Bath House was converted into a museum, which opened in 1988.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government Gardens, Rotorua.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Parks & Reserves: Government Gardens, New Zealand.
  2. ↑ Lyn Rasmussen, Rotorua Government Gardens, New Zealand Travel, October 28, 2009. www.suite101.com/content/new-zealand-travel-rotorua-government-gardens-a163275

Coordinates: 38°08′08.9″S 176°15′29.1″E / 38.135806°S 176.258083°E