The Queen Victoria Market (also known colloquially as Vic Market or Queen Vic) is a major landmark in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Covering over , it is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. Constructed in stages from the 1860s and officially opened in 1878, the Queen Victoria Market is the last remaining major market in the CBD, and along with Prahran Market and South Melbourne Market, the last of the city's Victorian era markets still operating. It is listed on both the Victorian Heritage Register and the National Heritage List, and is one of Melbourne's major tourist sites, attracting approximately 10 million visitors annually. History Earlier markets in Melbourne The Western Market was Melbourne's first official fruit and vegetable market, established in 1841, six years after the city's founding. It grew to take up an entire block bounded by Market, Collins and William streets in the central business district. The expansion of Melbourne to the east led to the establishment of the Eastern Market in the late 1840s, which quickly overtook the Western Market in popularity. Old Melbourne Cemetery The Queen Victoria Market was built and expanded over the site of the Old Melbourne Cemetery, which was the first British burial ground in Melbourne. Also known as Burial Hill, most of Melbourne's early settlers were buried there, including the founder of the city John Batman. The first person interred was a child by the name of William Goodman who was laid to rest on 13 May 1836. In July 1836, the burial of the first adult occurred, being that of the colonist Charles Franks, who was killed by Aboriginal people. The clan deemed responsible for Franks' murder were soon after annihilated during a punitive expedition. The cemetery was officially closed to burials in 1854 but some legal and many illegal burials continued until 1917, and in 1920 it was estimated that a total of 10,000 graves existed on the site, though the exact number is unknown since the cemetery records were lost in a fire in 1864. Development into a market district After the cemetery's partial closure, a number of small wholesale and retail markets were established around the site in the late 1850s to serve Melbourne's rapidly growing population. The Lower Market (Deli Hall, Meat and Fish Hall, and H and I sheds) was originally set aside in 1857 for a