Introducing Napier
You don’t have to be particularly cultured to enjoy Napier but you might find its passion for architecture and fine wine surprisingly contagious. Before long you’ll be blathering on about the Chicago School, Mayan decorative devices and ‘hints of passionfruit on the palate’ with the best of them.
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The Napier of today is the silver lining of the dark cloud that was NZ’s worst natural disaster. Rebuilt after the deadly 1931 earthquake in the popular styles of the time, the city retains a unique concentration of Art-Deco buildings. Architecture obsessives flock here from all over the world and the town milks it for all it’s worth. Don’t expect the Chrysler Building – Napier’s Art Deco is resolutely low-rise – but you will find intact 1930s streetscapes which can provoke a Great Gatsby swagger in the least romantic soul.
For the layperson it’s a charismatic, sunny, composed city with the air of an affluent English seaside resort about it.
Last updated: Sep 23, 2010
Tips & articles
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Art Deco Weekend: a guide to New Zealand’s historical festival
20 January 2013
This is an excerpt from Lonely Planet’s A Year of Festivals.Location: venues around Napier and...
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Napier
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