Voortrekker Monument

On our visit to our friendship school we also visited several places after school, one was Voortrekker Monument. It was a very impressive place to visit. It was also interesting to hear some history of the whites in South Africa while we were most of our time with blacks and we didn't have any contact to white population. The Monument was built in honour of the Voortrekkers (Pioneers), who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854.

It's been estimated that 12 000 Boers (farmers in Afrikaans, the trekkers) migrated from Cape Colony because they weren't happy with British rulers, they wanted to find more fertile land to farm and avoid border wars with xhosa-speaking groups. It's called the Great Trek. During their trek Voortrekkers got in conflict with Zulus. On December 16, 1838, Voortrekkers were able to defeat the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River. The Boers attributed their victory to a vow they made to God before the battle: if victorious, they and future generations would commemorate the day as a Sabbath. Cenotaph, the central focus of the Monument, is there to remind people of that vow. Through an opening in this dome the sun shines at twelve o'clock on 16 December each year onto the middle of the Cenotaph.

The Monument is huge: 40 metres high, with a base of 40 metres by 40 metres. It's situated on a beautiful place right outside of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. The view from the Monument is amazing. After passing through the gate one finds oneself inside a big laager consisting of 64 ox-wagons made out of decorative granite. The same number of wagons were used at the Battle of Blood River to form the laager. There is also

Monument was massive also from inside. I only had hard time with our pupils while I tried to translate at least something to them of the presentation to keep them not to die of boredom. Of course I couldn't do it - listen and try to understand and translate at the same time. Well, I enjoyed all I could see and rest I can always study afterwards...



There is a beautiful frieze inside the Monument. It's made of marble. The frieze consists of 27 bas-relief panels depicting the history of the Great Trek as well as the every day life, work methods, religious beliefs and way of life of the Voortrekkers.
I am little pit scared of hights so I didn't feel very comfortable up on the Monument but as I mentioned earlier the view was beautiful. Just don't look straight down! And it also helps that the Monument is built of granite and made very steady and strong. Go and experience it yourself!