Mount Eden
Mount Eden above the Auckländer suburb Epsom
Mount Eden ( Māori: Maungawhau, " Mountain of the Whau tree " ) is the name of a cinder cone in Auckland City in the North Island of New Zealand. The mountain is located about five kilometers south of the city center and is surrounded by the suburbs of Mount Eden. The mountain is the highest natural point of Auckland. It received its English name in honor of George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
He is the Auckland Volcanic Field belonging dormant volcano in the 196 meter high summit, a 50 meter deep, grassy crater is. The mountain consists of three arranged in a single row craters that give it an oval shape. The last eruption took place 28,000 years ago from two craters, with the last eruptions of the southern crater filled up the northern crater. Basaltic lava of the crater covered an area of 5.6 km ². A total of 162 million cubic meters of lava were ejected. This form thick deposits especially towards the Kyber Pass and Newmarket.
Since the entire volcanic field consists mainly of single events caused by volcanoes, a new outbreak of highly improbable is held. The mountain is accessible via the narrow Puhi Huia Road. By the end of 2011, the mountain is frequented by tourist buses that were parked in a parking lot just south of the crater, as its summit offers a good view over Auckland and surrounding areas.
The large number of buses was considered a blight on the summit. In August 2006, therefore blocking for tourist buses was announced, they should park halfway below the summit. First one took notice back partially and wanted to block only prevail if a not specified " sustainable transportation system with less disruptive effects " had been installed.
The mountain is made plan for its archaeological and geological significance of the city after the Auckland City Isthmus District under protection.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the mountain was inhabited for about 800 years by several iwi Māori and used as Pā ( fortified settlement ). The mountain was one of the main centers of settlement of Māori in the Auckland area. The settlement ended in 1700, when the Waiohua defeated the Tamaki. Earth walls and terraces and remains of living quarters and storage pits of this period are still visible today. The Māori saw the crater of the Essschüssel of God Mataahou (Te Ipu a Mataahou ).
1840 was the culmination of the three points, which marked the acquired land for Auckland. At the summit there is a trigonometric point today.
From the 1950s the peak of the New Zealand Post Office was used for FM radio. There were two of several hundred meters away from each building with its own antenna farm. In one of the buildings there was the transmitter, in the other the receiver. In the 1960s, the area was occupied during the week with maintenance personnel. It was mainly need for taxi radio and other businesses that communication to vehicles used.
Mountain water reservoirs were built from 1877. The rainwater seeps quickly into the porous volcanic rock of the mountain and comes as a lake days at Western Springs. 1877-1910 This was one of the first public Auckländer water storage.
The lava flows of Mount Eden were mined in several quarries, one of which closed the last 1928. Among these are the breaks, which are below the Auckland Grammar School. The material for it most of the curbs Auckländer streets come from here, also the one used for the construction of some older building stone.