Diaz Cross

About Diaz Cross

The Portuguese sailors of the 14th and 15th centuries marked their discoveries with sandstone padrão pillars carved with the cross of their flag, and on 12 March 1488 Bartholomew Dias erected the Padrão de São Gregorio at Kwaaihoek during his voyage to find a passage to the Indies. Sailing with two caravels after leaving their store ship at Luderitz, Dias and his weary crew turned back near the Kieskamma River, naming it Rio de Infante after João Infante. On the return journey, he planted his farthest pillar at Kwaaihoek before heading home. The cross’s remains lay hidden until Professor Eric Axelson uncovered and reconstructed them in 1937, recovering over 5,000 fragments. Today, the original resides in the William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand, with replicas in Port Elizabeth, Kwaaihoek, and Bushman’s River Mouth Town Hall, the latter donated for the 500-year Dias festival in 1988.