Napier is an important port city in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, named after Sir Charles Napier, hero of the Battle of Meeanee in the Indian province of Scinde.. It has a population (2001) of 53,661. Ten kilometres further south lies Hastings, Napier's twin city.In 1931 Napier was levelled by an earthquake and ensuing fires which killed 258 people. The city was rebuilt in the popular Art Deco style of the time, and remains a fine example of this type of architecture; it is reputed to be the largest collection of Art Deco buildings outside Miami.