History

Maori oral history suggests that people first inhabited the Canterbury area about a thousand years ago.

These first inhabitants were moa-hunting tribes and were followed by the Waitaha who are thought to have migrated from the East Coast of the North Island in the 16th Century.  This migration was jointed by the Ngati Mamoe and the Ngai Tahu and continued until about 1830.

The first European landed in Canterbury in 1815 - 45 years after Captain James Cook sighted what he named 'Banks Island', later found to be a peninsula.  In 1840 the first Europeans settled on the plans and whaling ships were operating out of Lyttelton by 1850. 

During 1850 - 1851 the first organised groups of English settlers, the founders of Christchurch, arrived on the 'first four ships' into Lyttelton Harbour. 

Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter  on July 31 1856 - making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand.  Canterbury's economy was built on primary products and Canterbury has long been regonised as living "off the sheep's back".  Its economic beginnings were in refridgerated sheep and dairy meats and in other diary products. Canterbury now has a diversified regional economy with growth across a range of sectors, particularly tourism.

The Cultural Precint

The Christchurch Cultural Precinct in central Christchurch contains an eclectic mix of sites of culture and learning, art, entertainment, shopping, leisure, Maori and European history and architectural heritage, all within easy walking distance of each other and conveniently linked by Christchurch's historic trams.  Click here for a map of the cultural precinct.