Diamond Museum

                                Rock Art

                                Nearby Airports

                                Kimberley 57km Vryburg 60km
                             

When diamonds were discovered in the Vaal River in the 1870s the former Transvaal Government hastily established a settlement on the banks of the river, in an attempt to control and alleviate land disputes over diamond discoveries further down the Vaal River. This town was established on the farm Zoutpansdrift (salt pan drift) and named Christiana, after the only daughter of President Pretorius of the old Transvaal. The first residential stands were sold in 1870.Two years later diamonds were discovered in the gravel of the Vaal River close by and the inevitable manic rush followed. As usual the initial rush petered with the diamonds, although some are still found from time to time. These days the mainstay of the economy is the production of beef, maize, sorghum, groundnuts and cotton.

Tourist attractions include the Diggers' Diamond Museum (authentic digging equipment and old photographs pay tribute to the town's diamond industry) and San Bushman Rock Art (excellent examples can be viewed 6km out of town on the Farm Stowlands) and Stows Kopje (prehistoric rock engravings which have been declared a national monument).

Christiana is on the N12 between and Bloemhof and Warrenton, on the way to Kimberley (Northern Cape). Gripped by diamond fever in the 1870s. Named after Christiana, the only daughter of the then President Pretorius.