Page 364 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

362  THE ARID INTERIOR

2 Street-by-Street:
Graaff-Reinet

In 1786, a landdrost (magistrate) was appointed by the Dutch East
India Company to enforce Dutch law and administration along
the remote eastern Karoo frontier. The settlement that grew up
around the magistrate’s court was named after Governor Cornelis
Jacob van de Graaff and his wife, Hester Cornelia Reinet. Nine years The War Memorial
later, the citizens of Graaff-Reinet expelled the landdrost and The memorial honours the
declared the first Boer Republic in South Africa. fallen of both World Wars.
Within a matter of a few months, however, Spandau
colonial control was re-established. Kop
Huguenot P A R K S T R E E T
Monument N O R T H S T R E E T
Town Hall
Valley of
C A L E D O N S T R E E T
Desolation

Dutch Reformed Church
The beautiful Groot Kerk (great
church), completed in 1887, was
constructed using two different C R
types of local stone. O
S
S

S
T
R
C
E
H
E
U
T
R C
H

S
T
R
E E T
S O M E R S E T S T R E E T
The South African War Memorial
This monument, unveiled in 1908,
commemorates the efforts of Boer
soldiers against the British troops.
P A R L I A M E N T S T R E E T
VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical Information Key
Road map C4. * 35,000 Suggested route
n Church St, 049 892 4248.
∑ graaffreinet.co.za S T R E T C H ’ S C O U R T
Reinet House: Tel 049 892 3801.
Open 8am–5pm Mon–Fri, 9am–
noon Sat & Sun. & =
∑ graaffreinetmuseums.co.za

Transport
~ Port Elizabeth, 236 km . Stretch’s Court
(147 miles) SE. @ Engen petrol These cottages were built
station, Church St. in the 1850s to house
labourers and freed slaves.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p391 and p411
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