monuments

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The Fourth Raadsaal

Bloemfontein in the Free State has a collection of beautiful historic buildings and statues all situated in the centre of town.  The one I liked the most on my recent visit was the Fourth Raadsaal. The foundation stone was laid by then Orange Free State President F. W. Reitz in 1890 and the building was completed in 1893. It is a Renaissance-style building in red brick with a prominent dome and a portico of Ionic columns. The last session of the Parliament…

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06/10/2010
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Graaff Reinet Statues

I still had a couple of odd monument photos from Graaff-Reinet lying around and decided to put them together and do a "Random ..." post for today. This monument is in memory of Andries Pretorius, one of the Voortrekker leaders. It was erected in 1943 and can be found just outside of town on the way to Middelburg. This is the route to the north and into the interior which the Voortrekkers followed in the 1830's.In one of the residential…

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28/09/2010
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Nobel Square

Although its been around for about 5 years or so already, I recently got to see Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town for the first time. Nobel Square pays tribute to South Africa`s four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; the late Nkosi Albert Luthuli (1960), Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (1984), former State President F.W. de Klerk (1993) and former President Nelson Mandela (1993).The life sized sculptures of the four Laureates were created by internationally acclaimed artist Claudette Schreuders…

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05/09/2010
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Cradock attractions

Its been a year or two since my visit to Cradock here in the Eastern Cape, but I found a couple of pics of attractions in the town that I haven't posted before.The historic NG Moederkerk (Dutch Reformed Church)The church was completed in 1868 for the local Dutch Reformed congregation that was established in 1824, a mere 10 years after the town received it’s name. The design of the church was based on the design of "St. Martins-in-the-Field" in London's…

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28/08/2010
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Prince Alfred Guard soldier

The figure of a ready-to-charge PAG Sargent-major on top of the Prince Alfred Guard Memorial in Port Elizabeth. PAG Memorial in St Georges Park was erected in remembrance of men from the regiment that died in four different wars, one of them the Anglo Boer War.Visit Skywatch for more neck craning pictures featuring the sky

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19/08/2010
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Queen Victoria Statue

Today (9 August) is National Women's Day here in South Africa. I checked my photos for something relevant and decided to feature the Queen Victoria Statue in front of the Public Library in Port Elizabeth. It kinda links in with the post I did the other day on the Queen Victoria Profile in the Gamtoos Valley. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from…

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09/08/2010
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Sarah Bartmann’s grave

Situated on top of a hill overlooking the Gamtoos Valley just outside Hankey is the grave of Sarah Bartmann (Saartjie Baartman). She was born somewhere in the Gamtoos Valley in 1789 and moved to the Cape as a teenager to find work. From here she was lured to London under false in 1810 and was exhibited around England as the "Hottentot Venus". She was sold to a Frenchman who also exhibited her around France before here death. Sarah died in…

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21/07/2010
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Ox wagons

I decided to start the week off with a nice varied Random ... theme post. The chosen Random ... theme is Ox Wagons. Ox wagons played an important roll in the early history of South Africa, in particular the Great Trek, and forms part of just about every museum exhibit throughout the country. They are specially evident around small towns and farms with ox wagon wheels often found at farm entrances. This ox wagon is on display outside the museum…

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12/07/2010
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1820 Settlers Monuments

The town of Grahamstown (well, its actually a city as it has a cathedral) in the Eastern Cape is situated right in the middle of Settlers country. It is in this area that the 1820 British Settlers (see here, here and here for the Settler story) settled down and it was inevetable that the town would put a monuments to them. On the hill overlooking the town the Settlers Monument was built as a living monument. Opened in 1974, the…

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10/07/2010