The history of this monument stretches over 500 years from 1488 when the intrepid Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias erected a Cross or Padrao on a promontory known as Kwaaihoek, in the district of Alexandria. The planting of this padrão was in all probably a tense and rushed affair as against the wishes and desires of Dias, in a regrettable turn of events, the caravel’s crew had mutineered and demanded to turn back for home. Yet even in this tense atmosphere, Dias had to perform a singularly important ceremony: the planting of a cross which signified Portuguese hegemony over the land. This was a sacred imperial duty which compelled him to continue with his duty however rushed.

In the intervening centuries, knowledge and the physical location of the monument was lost.

This is the story of its recovery and a duplicate being made.

Main picture: The Diaz Cross in the elegant Mayor’s Garden

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