Space view of Christchurch and
surrounding areas.
Christchurch ( ) is the
largest city in the South Island
of New
Zealand
, and the country's second-largest urban area. It is one third the
way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula
which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal
limits of Christchurch.
The city was named by the
Canterbury Association, which settled
the surrounding province of
Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was
agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848.
It was
suggested by John Robert Godley,
who had attended Christ Church, Oxford
. Some early writers called the town
Christ Church, but it was recorded as
Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of
the association.
The river
which flows through the centre of the city (its banks now largely
forming an urban park) was named Avon
at the request of the pioneering Deans brothers to
commemorate the Scottish Avon,
which rises in the Ayrshire hills near what was their grandfathers'
farm and flows into the Clyde.
The usual
Māori name for Christchurch is
Ōtautahi (
"the place of Tautahi").
This was
originally the name of a specific site by the Avon
River near present-day Kilmore Street and the
Christchurch Central Fire Station. The site was a
seasonal dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief
Te Potiki Tautahi, whose main home was Port Levy
on Banks Peninsula. The Ōtautahi name was
adopted in the 1930s. Prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally
referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration
of the English name.
Geography
Christchurch lies in Canterbury
, near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is located near the
southern end of Pegasus
Bay
, and is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean
coast and the estuary
of the Avon and Heathcote Rivers
. To the south and south-east the urban portion
of the city is limited by the volcanic slopes of the Port Hills
separating it from Banks Peninsula. In 2006,
Banks Peninsula was incorporated into the city, in effect tripling
the city's land area while adding only about 8,000 people to the
city's population.
To the north the city is bounded by the
braided Waimakariri
River
.
Christchurch is
one of only eight pairs
of cities in the world that has a near-exact
antipodal city.
Half of these antipodal pairs are in New
Zealand and Spain
/Morocco
– with A Coruña, Spain
as Christchurch's antipode.
Christchurch has one of the highest-quality
water supplies in the world, rated one of the
purest and cleanest water in the world.
The water is sourced
via more than 50 pumping stations from aquifers which conduct it from the foothills of the
Southern
Alps
and provide natural filtering.
Central city
At the
centre of the city is Cathedral Square
, surrounding the Anglican cathedral, Christ Church
. The area around this square and within the
"four avenues" of Christchurch (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue,
Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue) is considered the
central business district of the
city. The central city also has a number of residential areas,
including Inner City East, Inner City West, Avon Loop, Moa
Neighbourhood & Victoria.
Cathedral Square is a popular destination and hosts attractions
such as the speakers' corner made famous by the
Wizard of New Zealand, Ian Brackenbury
Channell, and evangelist
Ray Comfort.
The central city includes the pedestrianised Cashel Street as
Christchurch's urban mall.
At one end of the mall stands the Bridge Of
Remembrance; at the other end the old location of the amphitheatre
known as the Hack
Circle
.
The Cultural Precinct
[66574] provides a backdrop to a vibrant scene
of ever-changing arts, cultural, and heritage attractions within an
area of less than one square kilometre.
The Arts
Centre
, the Canterbury Museum
and the Art Gallery
are located in the Cultural Precinct. The
majority of the activities are free and a printable map is
provided.
Inner suburbs
(clockwise, starting north of the city centre)
Mairehau; Shirley; Dallington; Richmond; Avonside
; Linwood
; Woolston
; Opawa; Waltham; St Martins; Beckenham
; Sydenham
; Somerfield
; Spreydon
; Addington
; Riccarton
; Ilam
; Burnside;
Fendalton
; Bryndwr; Strowan; Merivale
; Papanui
; St Albans
.
Outer suburbs
(clockwise, starting north of the city centre)
Marshland; Burwood
; Parklands;
Waimairi Beach; Avondale
; New Brighton
; Bexley
; Aranui; South Brighton; Southshore; Bromley; Mt
Pleasant
; Redcliffs; Sumner
; Ferrymead; Heathcote
Valley
; Hillsborough; Murray
Aynsley; Huntsbury; Cashmere
; Westmorland; Hillmorton; Hoon Hay
; Halswell
; Oaklands;
Wigram
; Middleton; Sockburn; Hornby
; Islington;
Templeton
; Yaldhurst; Russley; Avonhead
; Harewood
; Bishopdale;
Casebrook; Redwood; Regents Park; Northwood; Belfast
; Spencerville; Brooklands;
Satellite towns
Accessible
Geographically isolated
Climate
Overview
Christchurch has a dry,
temperate climate, with mean daily maximum air temperatures of
in January, in July. The summer climate is often moderated by a
sea breeze from the Northeast, but a
record temperature of was reached in February 1973. A notable
feature of the weather is the
nor'wester, a hot
föhn wind that occasionally reaches
storm force, causing widespread minor damage to
property.
In winter it is common for the temperature to fall below at night.
There are on average 70 days of ground frost per year. Snow falls
occur on average once or twice a year in the hill suburbs and about
once or twice every two years on the plain.
On cold winter nights, the surrounding hills, clear skies, and
frosty calm conditions often combine to form a
stable
inversion layer above
the city that traps vehicle exhausts and smoke from domestic fires
to cause
smog.
While not as bad as smog in Los
Angeles
or Mexico City
, Christchurch smog has often exceeded World Health Organisation
recommendations for air
pollution. The city has funding available to upgrade
domestic home heating systems, and in order to limit air pollution
has banned the use of open fires as of 1 January 2006. As of 2008,
woodburners more than 15 years old are prohibited.
Temperatures
Structure
Boatsheds on the Avon River
Demographics
The area
administered by the Christchurch City Council has a population of
making it the second-largest in New Zealand, and the largest city in the South Island. The Christchurch urban area is the
second-largest in the country by population, after Auckland
.
Ethnicity
The following table shows the ethnic profile of Christchurch's
population, as recorded in the 2001 and 2006
New Zealand
Census. The percentages add up to more than 100%, as some
people counted themselves as belonging to more than one ethnic
group. Figures for 2006 refer to just Christchurch City, not the
whole urban area. The substantial percentage drop in the numbers of
'Europeans' was mainly caused by the increasing numbers of people
from this group choosing to define themselves as 'New Zealanders' –
even though this was not one of the groups listed on the census
form.
| Ethnic Group |
2001 census |
2006 census |
| Percentage |
People |
National average |
Percent |
People |
National average |
| European |
89.8 |
291,594 |
|
75.4 |
255,366 |
67.6 |
| 'New Zealander' |
n/a |
n/a |
|
12.9 |
43,671 |
11.1 |
| Asian |
5.5 |
17,703 |
|
7.9 |
26,631 |
9.2 |
| Māori |
7.2 |
23,421 |
|
7.6 |
25,725 |
14.7 |
| Pacific Island |
2.4 |
7,713 |
|
2.8 |
9,465 |
6.9 |
| Middle East/Latin America/Africa |
n/a |
n/a |
|
0.8 |
2,862 |
0.9 |
| Others |
0.6 |
2,073 |
|
<0.1></0.1> |
114 |
<0.1></0.1> |
| Total giving their ethnicity |
|
324,666 (individuals) |
|
|
338,748 (individuals) |
|
The 2006 Census also provides information about the
multilinguality of the region. Accordingly,
283,986 people in Christchurch City spoke one language only, while
37,947 spoke two, and 7,881 could converse in three or more
languages.
Economy
The agricultural industry has always been the economic core of
Christchurch. The city has long had industry based on the
surrounding farming country. PGG Wrightson, New Zealand's leading
agribusiness, is based in Christchurch. Its local roots go back to
Pyne Gould Guinness an old stock and station agency serving the
South Island. That firm helped take deer farming techniques abroad.
PGG Wrightson's overseas diversification includes dairy farming in
Uruguay.
Other agribusineses in Christchurch have included malting, seed
development and dressing, wool and meat processing, and small
biotechnology operations using byproducts from meat works.
Dairying has grown strongly in the surrounding areas with high
world prices for milk products and the use of irrigation to lift
grass growth on dry land. With its higher labour use this has
helped stop declines in rural population. Many cropping and sheep
farms have been converted to dairying. Conversions have been by
agribusiness companies as well as by farmers, many of whom have
moved south from North Island dairying strongholds such as Taranaki
and the Waikato.
Cropping has always been important in the surrounding countryside.
Wheat and barley and various strains of clover and other grasses
for seed exporting have been the main crops. These have all created
processing businesses in Christchurch.
In recent years, regional agriculture has diversified, with a
thriving wine industry springing up at Waipara, and beginnings of
new horticulture industries such as olive production and
processing.Deer farming has led to new processing using antlers for
Asian medicine and aphrodisiacs. The high quality local wine in
particular has increased the appeal of Canterbury and Christchurch
to tourists.
In earlier years, Christchurch was one of the two heavy-engineering
centres of New Zealand, with firms such as Anderson's making steel
work for bridges, tunnels, and hydro-electric dams in the early
days of infrastructure work. Now manufacturing is mainly of light
products and the key market is Australia, with firms such as those
pioneered by the Stewart family among the larger employers.
Before clothing manufacture largely moved to Asia, Christchurch was
the centre of the New Zealand clothing industry, with firms such as
LWR Industries. The firms that remain mostly design and market, and
manufacture in Asia. The city also had five footwear manufacturers,
but these have been replaced by imports.
In the last few decades, technology-based industries have sprung up
in Christchurch.
Angus Tait founded Tait
Electronics, a mobile-radio manufacturer, and other firms spun off
from this, such as Dennis Chapman's Swichtec. Tait proteges include
Chapman. In software, Gil Simpson founded LINC, which became Jade.
Neither Angus nor Gil completed high school education.
However, there have been spin-offs from the electrical department
of the University of Canterbury engineering school. These included
Pulse Data, which became Human Ware ( making reading devices and
computers for blind people and those with limited vision) and CES
Communications (encryption). The Pulse Data founders had moved from
the Canterbury University engineering school to work for Wormald
when they set up Pulse Data through a management buyout of their
division.
Nowadays, the University of Canterbury engineering school and
computer science department play an important role in supplying
staff and research for the technology industries, and the
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology provides a flow of
trained technicians and engineers.
Similarly, nearby Lincoln
University
has played an important role in Christchurch
agribusiness.
Tourism is also a significant factor of the
local economy.
The closeness of the ski-fields and other attractions of the Southern Alps, and hotels, a casino, and an airport that meet
international standards make Christchurch a stopover destination
for many tourists. The city is popular with Japanese
tourists, with signage around Cathedral Square in
Japanese.
Government
Christchurch's
local government is
a
democracy with various elements
including:
- Christchurch City
Council, comprising the Mayor
of Christchurch, and 13 councillors elected in seven
wards.
- Community boards (6), each
covering one ward, with five members each plus the two ward
councillors. The Banks Peninsula Ward has 2 community boards with five members each,
plus the ward councillor, who is also a member of each
Board.
- District councils in
surrounding areas: Selwyn, and Waimakariri. The Banks
Peninsula district council was amalgamated into Christchurch City
in March 2006 after a vote by the Banks Peninsula residents to
disestablish in November 2005.
- Canterbury
Regional Council, known as 'Environment Canterbury', including
four Christchurch constituencies with two members from each
constituency.
- District Health
Board (Canterbury), with five members for Christchurch.
In 1993,
Christchurch was selected as the "Best Run City in the World", also
known as the 'Carl Bertelsmann Prize: Local Government', by the
Bertelsmann
Foundation
of Germany. Especially noted was the
increased efficiency of communal services in competition with
private enterprises.
Christchurch shared the award honour with
Phoenix,
Arizona
, USA
.
Education
Secondary schools
Christchurch is the location of Burnside
High School
, the second largest school in New Zealand with 2,650 pupils. Cashmere
High School
at Rose Street is another large co-educational
secondary school. In recent years, Papanui High
School
has undergone rapid growth to reach a similar
size. Riccarton High School
was one of the first state schools in the country
to adopt a strong values base - the Riccarton
Way.Christchurch is also well-known for several
very traditional schools of the English public school type, such as
St Margaret's College
, Christ's College
, St Andrew's
and Rangi
Ruru Girls' School
, but also
has several less conventional schools such as Unlimited
Paenga Tawhiti
and Hagley Community College
.
Tertiary institutions
The University of Canterbury is a
tertiary education provider for Christchurch
A number of tertiary education institutions have campuses in
Christchurch, or in the surrounding areas.
Transport
Christchurch is served by Christchurch
International Airport
and by buses (local and long-distance) and
trains. The local bus service, known as
Metro, is
provided by
Environment
Canterbury. The car, however, remains the dominant form of
transport. The central city has very flat terrain and the City
Council are establishing a network of cycle lanes on roads.
There is a functioning
tram service in Christchurch, but as a tourist
attraction, its loop is restricted to a circuit of the central
city. The trams were originally introduced in 1905, ceased
operating in 1954, but returned to the inner city (as a tourist
attraction) in 1995. In addition to normal bus services,
Christchurch also has a pioneering
zero-fare hybrid bus
service, the
Shuttle, in the inner city.
Christchurch Brill Tram No 178 on the heritage tramway
The
Main North Line railway
travels northwards via Kaikoura
to Picton
and is served by the famous TranzCoastal passenger train, while the
Main South Line heads to Invercargill
via Dunedin
and was used by the Southerner until its cancellation in
2002. The most famous train to depart Christchurch
is the TranzAlpine, which travels along
the Main South Line to Rolleston
and then turns onto the Midland Line, passes through the
Southern
Alps via the Otira Tunnel
, and terminates in Greymouth
on the West Coast
. This trip is often regarded to be one
of the ten great train journeys in the world for the amazing
scenery through which it passes. The TranzAlpine service is
primarily a tourist service and carries no significant commuter
traffic. Commuter trains used to operate in Christchurch but were
progressively cancelled in the 1960s and 1970s.
The last such
service, between Christchurch and Rangiora
, ceased in 1976.
History
Overview
High, Manchester and Lichfield Streets
in Christchurch, 1923
Archeological evidence found in a cave at
Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the
Christchurch area was first settled by
moa-hunting tribes about 1250.
Māori oral history relates that humans occupied
the area around the year 1000. These first inhabitants were thought
to have been followed by the
Waitaha tribe,
who are said to have migrated from the East coast of the North
Island in the 16th century. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha
(made of three peoples) were dispossessed by the
Ngati Mamoe tribe. They were in turn
subjugated by the
Ngāi Tahu tribe,
who remained in control until the arrival of European
settlers.
Following
the purchase of land at Putaringamotu (modern Riccarton) by the
Weller brothers whalers of Otago and Sydney
a party
of European settlers led by Herriott and McGillivray established
themselves in what is now Christchurch, early in 1840. Their
abandoned holdings were taken over by the
Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed. The
First Four Ships were chartered by the
Canterbury Association and arrived on
16 December 1850, bringing the first 792 of the
Canterbury
Pilgrims to
Lyttelton
Harbour. These sailing vessels were the
Randolph,
Charlotte-Jane,
Sir George Seymour, and
Cressy.
The Canterbury
Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and
college, on the model of Christ Church in Oxford
.
The name "Christ Church" was decided prior to the ships' arrival,
at the Association's first meeting, on 27 March 1848.
Captain Joseph Thomas, the Canterbury Association's Chief Surveyor,
surveyed the surrounding area.
By December 1849 he had commissioned the
construction of a road from Port Cooper, later Lyttelton, to Christchurch via
Sumner. However this proved more difficult than
expected and road construction was stopped while a steep foot and
pack horse track was constructed over the
hill between the port and the Heathcote valley, where access to the
site of the proposed settlement could be gained. This track became
known as the
Bridle Path,
because the path was so steep that pack horses needed to be led by
the bridle.
The Anglican cathedral was completed
in 1904 and has since been the focal point of the city
Goods that were too heavy or bulky to be transported by pack horse
over the Bridle Path were shipped by small sailing vessels some
eight miles (13 km) by water around the coast and up the
estuary to
Ferrymead. New Zealand's first
public railway line, the
Ferrymead
railway, opened from Ferrymead to Christchurch in 1863.
Due to
the difficulties in travelling over the Port Hills and the dangers associated with shipping navigating
the Sumner bar, a railway tunnel was bored through the Port Hills
to Lyttelton, opening in 1867.
Christchurch became a city by
Royal
Charter on 31 July 1856, the first in New Zealand. Many of the
city's
Gothic buildings by
architect
Benjamin Mountfort date
from this period.
Christchurch was the seat of provincial administration for the
Province of Canterbury, which
was abolished in 1876.
In 1947,
New Zealand's worst fire disaster occurred at Ballantyne's
Department Store
in the inner city, with 41 people killed in a blaze
which razed the rambling collection of buildings.
The
Lyttelton
Road Tunnel
between Lyttelton and Christchurch was opened in
1964.
Christchurch was also host to the
1974 British Commonwealth
Games.
Gateway to the Antarctic
Christchurch has a history of involvement in
Antarctic
exploration
– both Robert Falcon
Scott and Ernest Shackleton
used the port of Lyttelton as a departure point for expeditions,
and there is a statue of Scott, sculpted by his widow, Kathleen Scott, in the central
city.
Within
the city the Canterbury Museum preserves and exhibits many historic artifacts and
stories of Antarctic exploration.
Christchurch
International Airport serves as the major base for the Italian and United
States Antarctic programs as well as the New Zealand Antarctic
programme. The International Antarctic
Centre
provides both base facilities and a museum and
visitor centre focused upon current Antarctic activities.
The United States Navy and latterly the United States Air National
Guard, augmented by the New Zealand and Australian air forces, use
Christchurch Airport as take-off for the main supply route to
McMurdo and Scott Bases in Antarctica. The Clothing Distribution
Center (CDC) in Christchurch, has more than 140,000 pieces of
extreme cold weather (ECW) gear for issue to nearly 2,000
U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) participants
in the 2007-08 season.
Visitor attractions
The Christchurch Art Gallery
Water fountain at Christchurch
Botanical Gardens.
Entertainment
Parks and nature
The large number of public parks and well-developed residential
gardens with many trees has given Christchurch the name of
The
Garden City.
Hagley Park
and the 30-hectare (75 acre) Christchurch Botanic Gardens
, founded in 1863, are in the central city, with
Hagley Park being a site for sports such as golf, cricket, netball, and rugby,
and for open air concerts by local bands and orchestras.
To the
north of the city is the Willowbank
wildlife park. Travis Wetland, an ecological restoration
programme to create a wetland, is to the east of the city centre in
the suburb of Burwood.
Cinema
While historically most cinemas were grouped around Cathedral
Square,
Regent Theatre [1930-1976] (from the Canterbury
Film Society website) only the Regent complex remains there, which
was rebuilt as 'Regent on Worcester' in 1996. Only one of the first
generation of suburban cinemas, the Hollywood in Sumner, remains
open. The largest multiplexes are the
Hoyts 8
in the old Railway Station on Moorhouse Avenue and
Reading Cinemas (also eight screens)
in the Palms shopping centre in Shirley.
The recently (2005)
opened Hoyts in Riccarton had the largest screen in New Zealand –
although this has recently (2007) been surpassed by Auckland, which
now has the largest movie theatre screen in the world, incorporated
into the new Sylvia
Park
shopping complex.
The Rialto Cinemas on Moorhouse avenue specialise in international
films and art house productions. The Rialto also hosts the majority
of the cities various film festivals and is home to the local film
society.
The
Christchurch
Arts Centre includes two art house cinemas, Cloisters and The
Academy, screening a wide selection of contemporary, classic and
foreign language films.
In 2009 three-screen Metro Cinemas opened in Worcester
Street.
The Canterbury Film Society is active in the city.
Theatre
Christchurch has one full-time professional
theatre, the Court
Theatre
, which is based in the Christchurch Arts
Centre. There is also an active recreational theatre scene
with community based theatre companies, such as the Riccarton
Players, Elmwood Players, and Canterbury Children's Theatre,
producing many quality shows.
Music
The city is known for its many live acts, has a professional
symphony orchestra, and is the base of
professional opera company, Southern Opera.
There are usually buskers around the town square, and Christchurch
also hosts the
World Buskers Festival in January each
year.
In recent movements, hip hop has effectively landed in
Christchurch. In 2000, First Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit was held
there. And in 2003, Christchurch’s own
Scribe, released his debut album in New
Zealand and has received five times platinum in that country, in
addition to achieving two number one singles.
Television
Christchurch has its own regional television station
Canterbury Television. CTV was first
formed in 1991 and still today reflects the Canterbury community
through locally made programmes.
Venues
Christchurch Casino with its playful
hybrid of old and new architectural forms
The
Westpac
Arena
is New Zealand's second largest permanent
multipurpose arena, seating between 5000 and 8000, depending on
configuration. It is home of the
Canterbury Tactix netball side. It was the
venue for the 1999 World
Netball
championships and has been host to many concerts in recent
years.
The
Christchurch Town Hall
Auditorium
(2500 seats, opened 1972) was the first major
auditorium design by architects Warren and Mahoney and acousticians
Marshall Day. It is still recognised as a model example of
concert-hall design. It has an excellent modern
pipe organ.
Christchurch also has a
Casino, and there are
also a wide range of live music venues – some short-lived, others
with decades of history.
Classical music concerts are held at the
Music Centre, Christchurch, New
Zealand
.
Sport
Teams
- The Crusaders, formerly the
'Canterbury Crusaders' are a rugby union
team based in Christchurch that compete in the Super 14 competition and are made up of players
from the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury,
Tasman, and West Coast provincial rugby unions.
Events
Venues
Winter afternoon on the Christchurch
coast.
- Westpac Arena in Addington, Christchurch. Once hosted the
World Netball Championship and continues to host international
basketball and netball games.
Sister cities
Christchurch has seven
sister cities
around the world. They are:
- Adelaide
, South Australia
, Australia
- Christchurch
, Dorset
, United
Kingdom
- Lanzhou
, Gansu
, China
- Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
- Seattle
, Washington
, United States of America
- Songpa-gu, Seoul
, South Korea
- Wuhan
,
Hubei
, China
References
- A History of Canterbury, Vol. 1 - Sir James Hight
& Straubel, C.R.; Canterbury Centennial Association and
Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch 1957, Page 121
- Ōtautahi (from the Christchurch City Library
website)
- [1]
- Community Outcomes Baseline Report: Chch City
Council
- Water: Statistical summary - Chch City
Council
- Christchurch City Council definition
- Canterbury's damaging nor'wester (from the
Metservice NZ
website)
- Mean Number Of Days Of Ground Frost (from the
NIWA
website)
- Air Pollution Today (from the Environment
Canterbury website)
- [2] (from the Environment
Canterbury website)
- 2001 Regional Summary, Statistics
New Zealand
- The Sister City link with Christchurch (from
christchurch.org, a Christchurch City Council
website)
- Environment Canterbury (official regional council
website)
- Canterbury
District Health Board (official district health board
website)
- Carl Bertelsmann-Preis 1993: Kommunalverwaltung
(from the Bertelsmann Foundation website, in
German)
- A Wheel on Each Corner, The History of the IPENZ
Transportation Group 1956-2006 - Douglass, Malcolm; IPENZ Transportation Group, 2006, Page
12
- Cathedral History (from the official
Christ Church
cathedral website)
- Rescue, the Sumner community and its lifeboat service
- Amodeo, Colin (editor), Christchurch: Sumner Lifeboat Institution
Incorporated, 1998
- Chch City Libraries
- Ballantyne's fire
- Te Ara
- Christchurch, the Garden City (from the Christchurch City Council
website)
- Christchurch Cinemas :: Hollywood Theatre
- Canterbury Film Society (from the official Canterbury
Film Society website)
- Court
Theatre (from the official Court Theatre website)
- Riccarton Players
- Elmwood Players
- Canterbury Children's Theatre
- Christchurch Symphony (from the official Christchurch
Symphony Orchestra website)
- Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the
Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the
Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and
Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press,
2000
- Christchurch Casino (official Christchurch Casino
website)
- Sister Cities of Christchurch (from the Christchurch City Council
website)
Bibliography
- Rice, Geoffrey (with assistance from Jean Sharfe)(1999)
Christchurch changing: an illustrated history
Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 0-908812-53-1
(pbk.)
See also
External links
Official Organisations:
Culture & Information:
Tourism & Maps:
, consecrated in 1905, is widely considered to be
the finest renaissance-style building in Australasia.
(now a function centre) and Sign of the Kiwi. The Mt Pleasant
Trig offers 360° views from Lyttelton Harbour back over the hills
to the southern alps and the city, and out over Pegasus Bay.
.
(formerly Jade Stadium & Lancaster Park) is
Christchurch's premier outdoor sporting ground, which plays host to
rugby union in the winter months and
cricket in the summer months. It is
home to the Crusaders Super 14 and Canterbury Air New Zealand Cup rugby teams. It is
also used by the New
Zealand national cricket team and occasionally hosts a New Zealand Warriors rugby league match. AMI Stadium has a current
capacity of 36,500 people.
was built for the 1974 British Commonwealth
Games, which Christchurch hosted. It is used primarily
as an athletics park,
but also contains a newly upgraded swimming pool complex. It has
hosted major concerts from bands such as AC/DC
and the Red Hot Chili
Peppers.
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