| Close to Cape Town, South Africa, and surrounded by
the magnificent mountain scenery of the Jonkershoek valley lies the
historic town of Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch, the country's second
oldest town, after Cape Town, was founded in 1679, during the period
of control of the Dutch East India Company. Situated 111 metres
above sea level on the banks of the upper reaches of the Eerste
River. Here the river flows out of the mountains and into a shallow,
alluvial and fertile valley.
Situated 30 km from beautiful beaches and 50 km from Cape Town.
The active nature lover can enjoy the hiking trails in the
surrounding mountain ranges or wander through the nature reserve in
town. There are a wide variety of cultural activities in which the
University’s departments of Music, Drama and Fine Arts play an
important role. Furthermore, the Stellenbosch wine region is one of
the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere and very highly regarded.
Stellenbosch has become known as 'the town of oaks'. These trees
being abundant. Some of the oaks have been proclaimed national
monuments. When Governor Simon van der Stel first visited the area
in November 1679 he was much taken by its beauty. The name
Stellenbosch ('Van der Stel's bush') was given to the site of the
governor's camp, and by the following year the first settlers had
arrived from Cape Town. There was ample water from the river and the
streets were lined with furrows, which brought the water to every
house. Oak trees were planted and houses built of locally available
material, with thick walls, doors and windows made of local woods
such as yellow-wood and stinkwood, and roofing of black thatch. The
houses were finished with white-lime wash. The handmade furniture of
these early settlers has become much sought after by
collectors.
Stellenbosch was established not simply as a centre of
agriculture. With the authorities in Cape Town disctracted by the
problems of the development of the Cape Peninsula, it became a
romantic frontier town. The mountain ranges overlooking Stellenbosch
from the north marked the limits of the little-known world of
southern Africa, and beyond lay a great expanse of unexplored land.
To control the hunters, explorers and pioneers intent on penetrating
the interior, a magistracy was established in 1685, and for the next
century the incumbent of this post wielded authority over an
interior without geographical limit. Though in Stellenbosch there
was law, order and the tax collector, north of the town was nothing
but wilderness.
Each year on his birthday Simon van der Stel visited Stellenbosch
and presided over a fair with shooting competitions, feasting and
games. There he would meet the hunters, adventurers, traders and
others attracted to this gateway to the unknown. Today's
Stellenbosch is perhaps even more beautiful than when the governor
first founded it. He never saw the oak trees in their maturity, or
the main thoroughfare, Dorp Street, lined with houses, cottages and
shops or the town square, the Braak, with its arsenal, parades,
quaint houses, inns and churches.
The recently created Village Museum comprises a number of
original houses which have been restored. These have been furnished
in the styles characteristic of several histroical periods. The
Schreuderhuis forms part of this group, and is the oldest resorted
townhouse in South Africa. No. 18 Ryneveld Street serves as the
entrance to this collection of restored buildings. In Dorp Street is
one of the longest rows of old buildings surviving in any major town
in southern Africa. Most of the buildings date from the 19th
century. Among these is No. 116, Voorgelegen, which contains some of
its original Batavian tiles in the parlour. Alos in Dorp Street, the
old Lutheran Church, built in 1851 by Carl Otto Hager, is used by
the university as an art gallery. Nearby is the old home of the
Reverand Meent Borcherds, La Gratitiude., on the gable of which the
orignal owner modelled the 'all-seeing eye of God' to look down on
townsfolk. Lower down the street there is the immaculately restored
homestead of Libertas Parva, now the Rembrandt van Rijn Art Gallery.
A military museum is housed in the Kruithuis ('powder house') on the
west side of the town square. This was built in 1777. A perfect
example of an H-shaped Cape Dutch dwelling is the Burgher House, a
national monument. Built in 1797, it has been restored and is now an
office building, furnished with 18th century antiques.
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