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TThe Voortrekker Monument commemorates the epic exodus of disillusioned Boers from the Cape into the interior. This massive monument is ringed with granite ox-wagons, and contains a frieze of Boer heroics inside. The large grounds have been declared a National Nature Reserve, which abounds with small game.
The monolithic Voortrekker Monument is one of the first landmarks visitors see as they drive into Pretoria from the south. It commemorates the epic exodus by disillusioned Boers from the Cape into the interior, which laid the foundation for the borders of present day South Africa.
Did You Know?
TThe granite frieze in the Voortrekker Monument is the largest in the world.
IIn 1834, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. This was highly unpopular with the Boers and became the focal issue of greater disaffection. In what has come to be known as the Great Trek, thousands of Boers began migrating from the Cape in late 1835. Beyond the border they fanned out, with most choosing to continue either into the central interior or north-east into present day KwaZulu-Natal.
TThere Zulu king, Dingane took fright at the arrival of large numbers of settlers. He massacred one group under Piet Retief and ambushed another before being defeated at Blood River on 16 December 1838.
Shortly after, the British annexed what the Boers called Natalia, causing them to trek again into the interior to the areas that were to become the Boer republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal.
GGerard Moerdijk designed the Voortrekker Monument, which was opened on 16 December 1949. Ringed by 64 granite ox-wagons outside, the inside features a historical frieze and cenotaph, which is lit every 16 December by a shaft of sunlight through an opening in the roof. The granite frieze, depicting the heroics of the trekkers on 27 bas-relief panels, is the largest in the world.
OOn the outside of this Pretoria monument are five massive statues of Boer leaders and another by Anton von Wouw of a Boer woman and her two children. On the grounds are an indigenous garden and an open-air amphitheatre. In 1992, the Voortrekker Monument Nature Reserve was declared around the site.
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