I've said it before and I will say it again and again and again (every time I find another one). Just about every town has a war memorial. Click to see those in Knysna and Mossel Bay which I've blogged about before. Driving around Montagu I was looking for interesting places and stumbled upon the Montagu War Memorial remembering those from the town who fell during the Anglo Boer War, WWI and WWII. I'm not a war junkie so I…
The Union Buildings are surrounded by beautifully terraced gardens of indigenous plants as well as various monuments and a 9,000 seat amphitheatre. On our visit the roses were in full bloom, the weather nice and warm and people were just relaxing all over the gardens.The lawn in front of the Union Buildings are often the location for public gatherings, whether they be protest or celebration, such as the presidential inauguration. In 1915 there was a march of Afrikaner women to the Union…
The Union Buildings on Meintjieskop in Pretoria is the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The Boer Republics of the ZAR (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State united with the Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to for the Union of South Africa. Pretoria was selected as the administrative capital of the Union.The cornerstone of the building with its two identical wings was laid in November 1910, shortly after the…
The silhouette of the South African Nation Defence Force Memorial at Fort Klapperkop outside PretoriaVisit Skywatch for more pictures of the sky
The South African Defence Force Memorial is situated just outside the entrance to Fort Klapperkop in Pretoria. The memorial was unveiled on May 31 1979 and includes a statue of a soldier holding a R1 rifle, in memory of all members of the South African Defence Force who lost their lives serving their country. The individuals who have lost their lives are honored with an inscription on a number of marble plaques mounted around the statue.
Sitting on top of the koppies (hills) overlooking Pretoria is a number of forts that was built prior to the Anglo Boer War in the late 1800's. After the abortive Jameson Raid in 1895, the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal Republic) had a number of forts built to protect their capital in case of a foreign invasion. The Pretoria Forts consisted mainly of four forts, three of which was constructed by a German company. I have on a previous visit…
This is my last Bloemfontein post from this trip, I promise. I was actually very disappointed that I didn't have time to explore the city some more. I have never been to Bloemfontein before and it has so many places, most of historical value, to see. The one thing I did notice is that there are many statues around Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein used to be the capital of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State and many leaders involved in the…
Across the road from the Bloemfontein City Hall in Hertzog Square stands a fine monument dedicated to General JBM Hertzog. General Hertzog was a military officer in the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) and later became Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.Hertzog Square consists of fountains, a reflection pool and the statue created by sculptor Danie de Jager and unveiled in 1968. There another sculpture on the square of which I haven't been able to find any information. The male figure…
I hope you're not tired of Bloemfontein yet, but there are still a couple of things to show you. Bloemfontein's City Hall is a stately sandstone building designed by Sir Gordon Leithe. Even though its looks like a very old building from the outside, it was only built in 1935 and is decorated with Italian marble and Burmese wood. I found this very interesting skull design appearing at the bottom of both the towers and thought it quite an interesting feature.My visit to…
The National Afrikaans Literature Museum in Bloemfontein is only about a block from the Fourth Raadsaal I featured yesterday. This building originally accommodated the government structures of the Republic of the Orange Free State in the 1800s and is reminiscent of the old Cape-Dutch architecture in the area. The National Afrikaans Literature Museum, with the largest collection of Afrikaans literature and manuscripts in the world, as well as artifacts belonging to well-known Afrikaans writers, is housed in this building.Standing in…