Voortrekker Monument

Friday, 18th November 2005 by

The Voortrekker Monument was built in honour of the Voortrekkers (Pioneers), who left the Cape Colony in their thousands between 1835 and 1854. The monument was inaugurated on 16 December 1949, the anniversary of the "Battle of Blood River", and was designed so that the noon sun on that day would cast a ray of light onto the "Shrine of Honour". The day is now a public holiday named "Day of Reconciliation", to represent the hope for reconciliation between different racial groups after the end of Apartheid.

In 1949 a large amphitheatre was also erected to the North East of the Monument, which seats approximately 20,000 people.

Thanks: Carl & Dean