The tale of the gates is just one of countless stories about the thousands of people confined at Aradale, originally called the Ararat Lunatic Asylum, since it was built in 1863.
A labyrinth of 63 mostly Victorian buildings, Aradale is a forgotten mini-metropolis high on a hill above Ararat, 205 kilometres west of Melbourne. We’re among the first visitors to the 100-hectare complex since its dormitories, dining halls and sprawling grounds were emptied of its last patients in 1993.
Aradale has been lying largely empty for 16 years and is a desolate place. Walking across its deserted grounds is like walking onto a film set from a horror movie post-apocalypse: leaves swirl across empty courtyards a few birds hop around an unfilled swimming pool, downpipes rattle and wind blusters around the asylum’s old towers.
In days gone by anyone old and young, male and female who had a mental illness or a condition such as epilepsy, autism or Down Syndrome, could find themselves in an institution such as Aradale.
