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Pretoria is known as the capital of South Africa; a status it shares with both Cape Town and Bloemfontein. The city is beautifully situated on the river Apies and at the foot of the Magaliesberg ridges, and it attracts many tourists every year.
Pretoria is named after pioneer Andries Pretorius, and it is a city with a lot of fine sights. One of the highlights is the political center, the governmental body with the impressive Union Buildings. You should also se the great Voortrekker Monument and the many preserved buildings from Pretoria’s earlier history.
Nearly everywhere in the city you can enjoy the sight of some of the many thousands of Jacaranda trees that adorn the streets, gardens and parks. South Africa’s national zoo is also located in Pretoria, and the gardens at Union Buildings are definitely worth a stroll too.
The surrounding area of ​​Pretoria is also interesting with good opportunities for excursions. You can go to the big city of Johannesburg, which offers several museums and attractions, while nature and some of South Africa’s national parks are also close to Pretoria.
Union Buildings is the name of South Africa’s government buildings and the seat of the country’s president. It is also one of the best-known building complexes in South Africa with the Union Buildings’ impressive location atop Meintjieskop hill in the Pretoria suburb of Arcadia.
The background to the construction of the large facility was the union of the Dutch Boer republics under the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek in the Transvaal, the independent Oranje Vrijstaat, the British Cape Colony/Kaapkolonie and the British Colony of Natal. The union took place in 1910, and the result was the South African Union. Pretoria was chosen as the administrative city of government, while Cape Town became the seat of the country’s legislature.
As a government city, government buildings had to be built. It happened on Marthinus Wessel Pretorius’s former farm, Elandsfontein, part of which Andries Francois du Toit had bought in 1856. Du Toit called the land Arcadia, and he later sold the plot to Stephanus Jacobus Meintjies, from whom the name of Meintjieskop comes.
Meintjieskop was chosen to house the new government buildings and the impressive and stately building complex was designed by the famous British colonial architect Herbert Baker in 1908. It is considered the masterpiece among his many fine designs. Baker designed the Union Buildings with a symmetrical and monumental facade with columns and towers, and the complex was 285 meters long.
The Union Buildings were designed as a symbol of the union of several peoples. The central part is semi-circular, and from it there are building wings to the east and west. The two wings were built to architecturally represent English and Afrikaans, and the central part of the building was to symbolize the union between the two population groups. The foundation stone was laid in 1910, and the Union Buildings were completed in 1913.
In the center of the facility is an amphitheater. It was built exactly where there was a quarry before the Union Buildings. On the lawns in front of the Union Buildings, you can see various statues of, among others, South Africa’s first prime minister, Louis Botha. From here there is also a fantastic view of Pretoria. You should also take a walk in the terraced gardens around the Union Buildings.
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Church Square or Kerkplein, as it is called in Afrikaans, is Pretoria’s central square. It was already determined by Marthinus Pretorius, who founded Pretoria. He decided that the city’s market place and church should be located here, and that activities were central, so the center of Pretoria was born.
The name Church Square came from the church that stood in the center of the square from 1856 to 1905. Today, a statue of Boer leader and former Transvaal President Paul Kruger stands in the center of the square, and Kruger is surrounded by greenery and a number of interesting historic buildings . Incidentally, Paul Kruger was given a state funeral from the last church that was in Church Square.
You can advantageously spend time enjoying the architecture around Church Square. To the north is Pretoria’s grand courthouse, the Palace of Justice/Paleis van Justisie, for which Paul Kruger laid the foundation stone in 1897. To the south is the Old Council Hall/Ou Raadsaal, which housed the South African Parliament from 1891 to 1902. It was the Dutch Sytze Wierda, who designed Ou Raadsaal, for which Paul Kruger also laid the foundation stone.
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The Voortrekker Monument is a large memorial located in the southern part of Pretoria. The monument was erected in memory of the Voortrekkers who, from 1835 and throughout the following decades, emigrated from the Cape Colony on large settlement trips to the interior of southern Africa.
The Voortrekkers were white Boer farmers who established long caravans and on their forays into the country. The Cape Colony was then located along the coasts to the south and west, and it extended, among other things, to present-day Port Elizabeth. From here the caravans of settlers moved north-east to, among other things, the area around today’s Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The idea of ​​a monument to the Voortrekkers was first thought of in 1888, but it took until 1931 before a committee and movement for its construction was formed. The foundation stone for the large monument was laid in 1938 by descendants of Voortrekker leaders, and the Voortrekker Monument was dedicated in 1949.
The monument stands almost like a cube with a height, width and depth of 40 meters each. Inside you can see the Hall of Heroes with beautiful glass mosaics and a marble frieze depicting the history of the Voortrekker settlement caravans. The frieze conveys the story from the first caravan in 1835 to the signing of the Sand River Convention in 1852, where England formally recognized the independence of the Boers north of the Vaal River.
You can also see the central cenotaph in the Voortrekker Monument. It stands in the Cenotaph Hall and was designed so that a sunbeam shines in the middle of the cenotaph at 12.00 on 16 December. This is a memorial to the Battle of Blood River, fought between the Boers and the Zulus on 16 December 1838. The battle was one of the decisive battles for the Boers’ struggle for freedom in the new land and coexistence with the Zulus.
In front of the monument you can see 64 bullock carts, showing the Voortrekkers’ caravan during the Battle of Blood River. They were placed close together and thus formed a defense against the Zulus. At the monument there is also a bronze statue of a mother with two children as a symbol of the voortrekker women’s courage and strength. In each corner stands a statue of the voortrekker leader. They respectively show Piet Retief, Andries Pretorius, Hendrik Potgieter and an unknown leader as a symbol of everyone other than the three named.
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Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History is an exciting cultural history museum in Pretoria. The museum is one of several museums in the Ditsong Museums of South Africa, which also has departments on, among other things, natural history, the military and the pioneer era. The Ditsong Museums are located in the Johannesburg and Pretoria area.
At the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History, you can see interesting exhibits on various aspects of the South African cultures, which offer great diversity. The exhibitions include archaeological effects, historical documents and much more that depict the development of the country. The museum is also set up in Pretoria’s old mint.
Kruger House is a beautiful house that was built in 1884 and it is known to have been the residence of Paul Kruger, who was Boer leader and President of the Republic of South Africa in the years 1883-1900. The house has been preserved as it was in Paul Kruger’s time, and today it is set up as a museum, which stands as a snapshot from the president’s time.
It was architect Tom Claridge who designed Kruger House, and Charles Clark built the house. As an interesting detail, Clark used milk instead of water to mix the cement for construction. It was a modern house that Paul Kruger moved into. It was, for example, one of the first in Pretoria with installed electricity.
When Paul Kruger became a member of the Volksraad in 1863, he bought several plots of land on Church Street, where he built Kruger House, among other things. He lived in the house for almost 16 years with his wife. Paul Kruger left the house on 29 May 1900, which was shortly before the British captured Pretoria.
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The National Zoological Garden is an 85-hectare zoo located close to the center of Pretoria. The garden is then also known as the Pretoria Zoo, and it opened as early as 1899, when J.W.B. Gunning founded it. Today, the zoo is considered one of the world’s largest and finest of its kind.
The garden was laid out on land formerly owned by Stephanus Schoeman, who was the President of the Republic of South Africa from 1860 to 1862. Part of the garden is on hilly terrain and the Apies River flows through the grounds.
There are lots of animals in the National Zoological Garden. On a trip to the garden you can experience, among other things, African penguins, lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, primates and a large aviary. On a stroll in the garden, there are also places from the hills with a nice view of the Pretoria skyline.
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The Pretoria Art Museum is an art museum located in the district of Arcadia. The museum was opened in 1964 with the purpose of exhibiting the art collection that the Pretoria City Council had acquired and developed since the 1930s. The collection was, among other things, established by a major donation in 1932.
The art museum not least has an excellent collection of works by South African artists such as Henk Pierneef, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Irma Stern. In recent years, the collection has also been expanded with some contemporary art, and you can experience many of the museum’s works in changing exhibitions.
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Melrose House is a beautiful house that was built in 1886 by businessman and wealthy George Jesse Heys. The house’s name comes from Melrose Abbey in Scotland, and it entered the South African history books when Field Marshal Lord Roberts set up military headquarters here during the Second Boer War.
After Lord Robert’s accession, Melsrose House was the headquarters of the British forces, and it was from here that orders to the forces in the field were given. This situation lasted until 31 May 1902, when the Treaty of Vereeniging/Verdrag van Vereeniging was signed. The agreement was signed at Melrose House and it ended the Second Boer War.
Today, Melrose House is open as a museum. On a visit, you can see the historic setting where the agreement was signed in 1902, and you can also enjoy the tour in the beautiful house. The mansion was built in a distinguished mixture of Victorian and Edwardian style, and there are beautiful furnishings from the time and not least from the time of George Jesse Heys in the building.
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Pretoria City Hall is the city’s town hall. The town hall was built from 1931 and it was inaugurated in 1935. An architectural competition was held for the construction in 1926, and F.G. McIntosh’s submitted design was chosen as the competition’s winner. However, due to economic problems in the country, it took a few years before construction began.
Pretoria City Hall was designed in the applied Italian classicism of the great public buildings of the day, with a characteristic bell tower. In front of the town hall you can see gardens and fountains in Pretorius Square. There are also statues of Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, who founded Pretoria, Andries Pretorius, after whom Pretoria was named, and Chief Tshwane.
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The Pioneer Museum is an open-air museum of sorts in eastern Pretoria, depicting the Voortrekker era and the lives of the earliest settlers who came to the area from the Cape Colony from 1835 and the following decades.
The museum is set up in and around The 1848 House/1848 gebou, which is the oldest house in Pretoria. On a tour here, you will be told the story of the inhabitants of the early farm, which they called Hartebeestpoort. Part of the story is the way of life of the villagers, tools, food products, etc.
The first settler at Hartebeestpoort was David Botha, and it was he who built the preserved house from 1848. The property functioned as a farm, but for many years it was also an accommodation with facilities for travellers. The house and grounds were donated to the city of Silverton in 1961, and the pioneer museum opened in 1975.
Johannesburg is the economic locomotive of southern Africa and one of the major cities on the continent. The city is the largest in South Africa and consists almost of two city centers, the old town center and the modern Sandton, where large shopping centers and modern buildings prevail.
The old town center has its sights. This is where the city was developed after the foundation, and a lot of its history can be seen here. The sights are large public institutions, high-rise buildings, museums, etc. This is also where the city’s main railway station and other important functions are located.
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Lion & Safari Park is a nature and animal park located in the Cradle of Humankind area. The park was originally a species protection site for lions, but there are also many other animals in the park today. Lion & Safari was established in the current location in 2016 and the park is 600 hectares.
In the Lion & Safari Park you can get close to much of Africa’s exciting wildlife. This applies not least to some of the approximately 80 lions that live here, but you can also experience leopards, hyenas, caracals and more. A large area has also been created where some of the more peaceful animals such as giraffes, zebras and antelopes are found.
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Sun City is a fantastic entertainment area in the middle of the South African nature. It is a luxury resort with, among other things, luxury hotels, golf courses, casinos and fantastic baths at the Palace of the Lost City hotel. Sun City is also on the border with Pilanesberg National Park, so there are also great opportunities for trips there.
Sun City was inaugurated in 1979 in the state of Bophuthatswana, which the then South African government nominally considered an independent state. This meant that Sun City could, for example, offer gambling and other things that were prohibited in South Africa. Throughout the 1980s, many famous artists gave concerts in Sun City, which was a popular resort.
Today you can visit the beautiful resort, where there are several wonderful hotels and splendid surroundings in the South African nature and on Sun City’s golf courses. The resort itself and the hotels are also an experience like palaces in the jungle.
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The Cradle of Humankind is the name of an area of ​​474 km² where hundreds of remains from early human activity have been found. For example, fossils and stone tools have been found in the area’s limestone caves, and the historically very interesting area is today included on UNESCO’s world heritage list.
It was Robert Broom who found the first ape-man fossil. He did so in 1935 at Sterkfontein, and the large cave area at Sterkfontein is central to a visit to the Cradle of Humankind. Since the first discovery, fossils have been found in more than 30 caves during excavations.
If you want to visit the Cradle of Humankind, the Maropeng Visitor Center is the right place to start. Here you get information about the caves, the excavations and the discoveries that have taken place over the years, and from here you can also go on trips to Sterkfortein’s limestone caves.
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Pilanesberg National Park is a national park where you can experience the beautiful South African nature and much of the country’s rich wildlife. The national park is located around an extinct volcano with a great variety in terrain and nature. The name Pilanesberg comes from Chief Pilane of the Kgafêla tribe. Pilane ruled from Bogopane in the 19th century.
The national park has a size of 572 km², and there are many kilometers of road which cross the park and which give access to many beautiful views and look at Pilanesberg’s many animals. You may be lucky enough to see the so-called Big Five of Africa’s animals, which include the elephant, leopard, lion, rhinoceros and water buffalo. There are also antelopes, zabras, kudus, giraffes and many other animals in the park. In addition, there are over 300 different kinds of birds.
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Cullinan Diamond Mine is an active diamond mine located in the town of Cullinan. The mine was founded in 1902, and for many years it was known as the Premier Mine. Geologically, the mine is a former volcanic crater tube that is a feeding channel to a volcano. It can also be called a kimberlite pipe, which is mined from several in, among other places, South Africa and Russia due to the pipes’ diamond content.
The Cullinan diamond mine became famous in 1905 when the world’s largest diamond was found by Frederick Wells and named The Cullinan Diamond. The rough diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats, which corresponds to 621.35 grams. 105 gemstones were later cut out of the diamond. The largest is called Cullinan I, and it sits in the British sceptre.
You can visit the Cullinan Diamond Mine on organized tours where you experience the mine from the surface. There is also a visitor center where you can see, among other things, a replica of a mining tunnel and replicas of some of the world’s most famous diamonds. You can also see the famous Cullinan Big Hole from a vantage point at the mine.
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24 Garsfontein Road
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Lynnwood Road/Simon Vermooten Road
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January Masilela Drive
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Church Street
National Zoological Gardens
Boom Street, Pretoria
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Lion & Safari Park
R512 Pelindaba Rd, Hartbeespoort, Broederstroom
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Gold Reef City
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The so-called Ndebele people were the first to establish themselves in the area that is today Pretoria. They named their town after one of their chiefs, Tshwane, which means “little monkey”. During the Zulu wars, however, the settlement was attacked, and the Ndebele people had to leave it in 1832.
In 1836, Dutch families started the large front-row caravan from Cape Town towards new land inland. They came to the Pretoria area, which they began to cultivate. Later, in 1855, the Pioneer leader Marthinus Pretorius founded the city of Pretoria, which he named after his father Andries Pretorius, who had become the national hero of the Dutch in connection with the victory over the powerful Zulus in a battle at Blood River. Pretoria soon after its founding became the capital of the Boer-dominated South African Republic, the South African Republic.
The capital developed in the republic until the war against Britain in 1899-1902. In the year 1900, the British conquered Pretoria and it was here that the peace treaty that ended the war was signed. It was the end of the South African Republic, which in 1910 was replaced by the new South African Union, for which Pretoria became the administrative capital, while Cape Town in the Cape Province became the legislative capital of the country. Pretoria was also the capital of the province of Transvaal.
A number of large public buildings were erected in connection with the city’s new status, not least the impressive government buildings, Union Buildings, which was inaugurated in 1913.
Nearby Johannesburg was developing tremendously economically, while Pretoria maintained the administration of the country’s laws. As a result, Pretoria was often in the international news, not least in the time following the introduction of the racially divided society.
The rich gold and diamond deposits financially benefited Pretoria as well, and in the latter half of the 20th century a number of modern buildings were erected and new districts emerged.Â
Pretoria has preserved many of its historic buildings, and today visitors can experience the city’s history through mansions with historic contents, places of historical significance and a varied cultural offering.
Overview of Pretoria
Pretoria is known as the capital of South Africa; a status it shares with both Cape Town and Bloemfontein. The city is beautifully situated on the river Apies and at the foot of the Magaliesberg ridges, and it attracts many tourists every year.
Pretoria is named after pioneer Andries Pretorius, and it is a city with a lot of fine sights. One of the highlights is the political center, the governmental body with the impressive Union Buildings. You should also se the great Voortrekker Monument and the many preserved buildings from Pretoria’s earlier history.
About the upcoming Pretoria travel guide
About the travel guide
The Pretoria travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the South African city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Pretoria is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Pretoria and South African
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Pretoria you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Voortrekker Monument • Union Buildings • Fine Museums • Sun City
Overview of Pretoria
Pretoria is known as the capital of South Africa; a status it shares with both Cape Town and Bloemfontein. The city is beautifully situated on the river Apies and at the foot of the Magaliesberg ridges, and it attracts many tourists every year.
Pretoria is named after pioneer Andries Pretorius, and it is a city with a lot of fine sights. One of the highlights is the political center, the governmental body with the impressive Union Buildings. You should also se the great Voortrekker Monument and the many preserved buildings from Pretoria’s earlier history.
About the upcoming Pretoria travel guide
About the travel guide
The Pretoria travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the South African city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Pretoria is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Pretoria and South African
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Pretoria you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Kruger House is a beautiful house that was built in 1884 and it is known to have been the residence of Paul Kruger, who was Boer leader and President of the Republic of South Africa in the years 1883-1900. The house has been preserved as it was in Paul Kruger’s time, and today it is set up as a museum, which stands as a snapshot from the president’s time.
It was architect Tom Claridge who designed Kruger House, and Charles Clark built the house. As an interesting detail, Clark used milk instead of water to mix the cement for construction. It was a modern house that Paul Kruger moved into. It was, for example, one of the first in Pretoria with installed electricity.
When Paul Kruger became a member of the Volksraad in 1863, he bought several plots of land on Church Street, where he built Kruger House, among other things. He lived in the house for almost 16 years with his wife. Paul Kruger left the house on 29 May 1900, which was shortly before the British captured Pretoria.
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The National Zoological Garden is an 85-hectare zoo located close to the center of Pretoria. The garden is then also known as the Pretoria Zoo, and it opened as early as 1899, when J.W.B. Gunning founded it. Today, the zoo is considered one of the world’s largest and finest of its kind.
The garden was laid out on land formerly owned by Stephanus Schoeman, who was the President of the Republic of South Africa from 1860 to 1862. Part of the garden is on hilly terrain and the Apies River flows through the grounds.
There are lots of animals in the National Zoological Garden. On a trip to the garden you can experience, among other things, African penguins, lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, primates and a large aviary. On a stroll in the garden, there are also places from the hills with a nice view of the Pretoria skyline.
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The Pretoria Art Museum is an art museum located in the district of Arcadia. The museum was opened in 1964 with the purpose of exhibiting the art collection that the Pretoria City Council had acquired and developed since the 1930s. The collection was, among other things, established by a major donation in 1932.
The art museum not least has an excellent collection of works by South African artists such as Henk Pierneef, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Irma Stern. In recent years, the collection has also been expanded with some contemporary art, and you can experience many of the museum’s works in changing exhibitions.
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Melrose House is a beautiful house that was built in 1886 by businessman and wealthy George Jesse Heys. The house’s name comes from Melrose Abbey in Scotland, and it entered the South African history books when Field Marshal Lord Roberts set up military headquarters here during the Second Boer War.
After Lord Robert’s accession, Melsrose House was the headquarters of the British forces, and it was from here that orders to the forces in the field were given. This situation lasted until 31 May 1902, when the Treaty of Vereeniging/Verdrag van Vereeniging was signed. The agreement was signed at Melrose House and it ended the Second Boer War.
Today, Melrose House is open as a museum. On a visit, you can see the historic setting where the agreement was signed in 1902, and you can also enjoy the tour in the beautiful house. The mansion was built in a distinguished mixture of Victorian and Edwardian style, and there are beautiful furnishings from the time and not least from the time of George Jesse Heys in the building.
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Pretoria City Hall is the city’s town hall. The town hall was built from 1931 and it was inaugurated in 1935. An architectural competition was held for the construction in 1926, and F.G. McIntosh’s submitted design was chosen as the competition’s winner. However, due to economic problems in the country, it took a few years before construction began.
Pretoria City Hall was designed in the applied Italian classicism of the great public buildings of the day, with a characteristic bell tower. In front of the town hall you can see gardens and fountains in Pretorius Square. There are also statues of Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, who founded Pretoria, Andries Pretorius, after whom Pretoria was named, and Chief Tshwane.
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The Pioneer Museum is an open-air museum of sorts in eastern Pretoria, depicting the Voortrekker era and the lives of the earliest settlers who came to the area from the Cape Colony from 1835 and the following decades.
The museum is set up in and around The 1848 House/1848 gebou, which is the oldest house in Pretoria. On a tour here, you will be told the story of the inhabitants of the early farm, which they called Hartebeestpoort. Part of the story is the way of life of the villagers, tools, food products, etc.
The first settler at Hartebeestpoort was David Botha, and it was he who built the preserved house from 1848. The property functioned as a farm, but for many years it was also an accommodation with facilities for travellers. The house and grounds were donated to the city of Silverton in 1961, and the pioneer museum opened in 1975.
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