Page 378 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

376  THE ARID INTERIOR

6 Bloemfontein before the British invasion in
1900, and now houses a small
Situated in the heartland of South Africa, Bloemfontein, museum depicting this time.
capital of the Free State and seat of the province’s parlia- There is a pleasant café in
ment, is also the country’s judicial capital. Part of the the stables.
municipality of Mangaung, it lies at the hub of five major P First Raadsaal Museum
national road routes. An altitude of 1,400 m (4,593 ft) 95 St George St. Tel 051 447 9609.
means that summers are moderate and winters mild to cool. Open 10am–1pm Mon–Fri, 2–5pm
The city was named after a fountain where early travellers Sat & Sun. 7 ∑ nasmus.co.za
used to stop on their treks through the interior. The city’s This, the oldest building in the
history – and that of many of its stately old sandstone city, is a white, unpretentious
structure near the National
buildings – is firmly connected with the Afrikaners’ struggle Museum. Built by Warden in
for independence. In 1854, when Major Henry Warden, 1849, it was used as a school.
the region’s official British representative, was recalled After Warden was with drawn in
to the Cape, the Afrikaners established a republic, with 1854, it became the meeting
Bloemfontein as its capital. place of the republic’s Volksraad
(people’s council).
R Tweetoringkerk
Charles St. Tel 051 430 4274.
Dedicated in 1881, the Dutch
Reformed Tweetoringkerk (twin-
spired church) is unique in the
country. It was inspired by
Europe’s Gothic cathedrals and
designed by Richard Wocke. The
interior, too, is Gothic. Especially
note worthy is the woodwork
around the pulpit and organ.
The Appeal Court building, Bloemfontein
E National Women’s
Exploring Bloemfontein street, complete with a Memorial and Anglo-Boer
Although Major Warden’s fort cluttered general dealer’s store. War Museum
has long disappeared, a por tion Monument Rd. Tel 051 447 3447.
of Queen’s Fort, dating back to E National Museum for Open 8am–4:30pm Mon–Fri,
1848, can still be seen south of Afrikaans Literature 10am–5pm Sat, 11am–5pm Sun.
the city centre. Cnr President Brand & Maitland sts. & 7 ∑ wmbr.org.za
President Brand Street is lined Tel 051 405 4711. South of the city, this site com-
with many fine old sandstone Open 8am–4pm Mon–Fri, memorates the countless Boer
buildings, such as the Appeal 9am–noon Sat. and black African women and
Court, built in 1929, Near the Appeal children who died in British
opposite the Fourth Court, this museum is concentration camps during
Raadsaal, which now devoted to leading the South African War.
houses the Free State’s Afrikaans writers, Emily Hobhouse, a British
provincial legislature. even those who, like woman who campaigned
This brick-and- André Brink (see p33), for better treatment of the
sandstone build ing opposed apartheid. prisoners, is buried at the foot
was constructed of the monument.
around 1893, during P Old Presidency
the presidency of President Brand St.
Frederick Reitz. Tel 051 448 0949.
Detail of the National Open 8am–3:30pm
E The National Women’s Memorial Mon–Fri. -
Museum Three blocks south
36 Aliwal St. Tel 051 447 9609. from the Literature Museum,
Open 8am–5pm Mon–Fri, 10am–5pm on the site once occupied
Sat, noon–5:30pm Sun & pub hols. 7 by the homestead of Major
& - = ∑ nasmus.co.za Warden’s farm, stands the
This museum contains a good Old Presidency, an attractive
collection of dinosaur fossils, building completed in 1861.
and a reconstruction of a typical It was the home of the Abstract painting by Cecil Skotnes,
19th-century Bloem fontein republic’s Afrikaner presidents Oliewenhuis Art Museum
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p391 and p411

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