Castle of Good Hope

A visit to the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town is a MUST for any family that is studying the history of South Africa.

This star-shaped fortification was built in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a maritime refreshment station and is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa.

It is advisable to arrange to have a guided tour, whether you are visiting as a family or as a tour group. The guides will show you around and have many interesting anecdotes to tell you. They will point out many fascinating features of the Castle that you otherwise might just walk by.

Guided Tours are conducted from Monday to Saturday at 11h00, 12h00 and 14h00 (except on Sundays).

On weekdays, you can see the Key Ceremony at 10h00 and 12h00, followed by the firing of the Signal Cannon.

Telephone: +27 21 787 1260

Tour Bookings: +27 21 787 1249

E-Mail: casteel@mweb.co.za

Report by a homeschooler:

The Castle Of Good Hope

We went to The Castle of Good Hope as a home schooling outing on the Thursday 21 February 2013.

The Castle of Good Hope [Dutch – Kasteel de Goede Hoope] was built by the Dutch East India Company from 1666 to 1679, under the directorship of Jan van Riebeeck. It was built by soldiers, sailors and slaves who used local stones to build the walls.

It was originally built in Table Bay and used to be on the beach but later they reclaimed land and now the Castle is situated in Strand Street in Cape Town.

Map of the actual trade zone (octrooigebied) of the VOC, between Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) and Japan; c. 1665. The VOC establishments are marked with yellow dots and names in black. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The purpose of building the Castle was so that it could act as a replenishment station for ships passing the treacherous coast around the Cape on long voyages between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies which we now call Indonesia. It was a welcome sight for sailors travelling up to six months at sea who thought of Cape Town as the “Tavern of the Seas”.

It was built as a fortress and housed a church, bakery, some workshops, living areas, shops, and prison cells.

During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), part of the castle was used as a prison. The Castle acted as local headquarters for the South African Army in the Western Cape, and today is used as the Castle Military Museum.

There are five bastions that kept out the Dutch enemies and form a pentagon.

If you look clock wise you will find first

• Nassau
• Oranje
• Leerdam
• Buuren and
• Catzenellenbogen

Bastion means part of a fortress that sticks out.

A bell tower was built over the original bell, which was the oldest in South Africa. It was cast in Amsterdam in 1697 by the East – Frisian bell maker Claude Fremy and weighed over 300 kilograms. It was used to announce the time as well as warning the people in case of danger since it could be heard 10 kilometers away. It also rung to call people and soldiers when important announcements needed to be made.

During our tour we saw the key ceremony where the soldiers come to get the key to ring the bell. They got the key at the Duke’s house.

We were able to see inside the Duke’s house and the table that fed 102 people.

After that we saw the well where lots of people had put their coins.

Later we took a trip to the oldest room in the house – the kitchen where inside was another well and an old rusty oven.

Lastly we went to the torture chamber, as well as the dungeons and the cells where I saw some engravings on the door – ship names and a few poems.

We had a lovely time. In the end it was one of my favorite outings.

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