Voortrekker Monument & Freedom Park - Pretoria

---

Voortrekker Monument - Pretoria



The majestic Voortrekker Monument is a unique Monument which commemorates the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854. Set on a hilltop in a beautiful setting the monument was inaugurated in 1949.

In the Hall of Heroes is the world’s longest historical marble frieze, the original designs were created from clay but local artists and sent to Italy where they were recreated in marble.

A tapestry with more than three million stitches is housed in the Cenotaph Hall.

The Cenotaph can also be viewed from the Dome at the top of the Building and Thankyou Kirsten for overcoming your fear of heights to show us where, through the opening in the Dome, a ray of Sunlight shines, at twelve o'clock on 16 December Annually, falling onto the Centre of the Cenotaph. The ray of Light is said to symbolise God's Blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers on the 16 December 1838, the date of the Battle of Blood River, commemorated in South Africa before 1994 as the Day of the Vow.



Freedom Park Pretoria commemorates all those South Africans who gave everything in the struggle to end apartheid. Freedom Park overlooks the Voortrekker Monument where we visited earlier.

Freedom Park’s area of S’khumbuto consists of the Wall of Names, a massive 700m-long structure that records the names of the many lives lost in the 8 major conflicts that shaped South Africa.



Two thought provoking visits.

http://www.heygo.com

---