”History

There’s a reason that Cape Town is called South Africa’s “Mother City” – it’s here in Table Bay that South Africa was first put on the map, quite literally, by the early European explorers and seafarers. Portugal’s Bartolomeu Dias made mention of it when rounding Cape Hope in 1488, calling it the “Cape of storms”. His compatriot Vasco da Gamma passed it in 1497 and in 1510 Francisco de Almeida and fifty of his men were killed when they landed in Table Bay and encountered the local KhoiKhoi people. But it wasn’t until 7 April 1652 with the landing of Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company that what was to become Cape Town was officially settled, becoming a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies.

It was then that grapevines were introduced to the land, most notably by Simon van der Stel at the settlement of Stellenbosch, where wine began to be made just a few short years later. To this day, the region around Stellebosch is globally renowned for its wine making and wonderful vintages.

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Town, as it became known, was a Dutch settlement until the British captured it in 1795. However, it was returned to the Netherlands in 1803 by treaty. Following the battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, the British once more took up occupation, and in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 Cape Town was permanently ceded to Britain. It then became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, and the British steadily expanded the territory throughout the 1800s.

In 1854 the Cape got its own parliament and a locally accountable prime minister in 1872. By then diamonds had been discovered in the area, and, coupled with the gold rush up in the Witwatersrand – where Johannesburg was quickly becoming established – triggered a flood of migration to South Africa. Conflicts between the British and the farmers who were descendants of the original Dutch and Huegenot settlers increased and finally came to  a head in the First and Second Boer Wars, the latter taking place from 1899 to 1902. Britian emerged victorious and in 1910 established the Union of South Africa, unifying the Cape Colony with the defeated Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colony of Natal. It wasn’t until 1931 that the Union became independent of Britain and a sovereign nation. On 31 May 1961, it finally became the Republic of South Africa.

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As a result of all of this colourful history, Cape Town has some of the oldest buildings in South Africa, which can be visited by tourists. The Castle of Good Hope is one, dating back to the time of Van Riebeeck who originally built it from clay and timber. It was rebuilt from stone between 1666 and 1679 by the Dutch East India Company and is now the oldest existing colonial building in South Africa. It’s a unique, pentagonal fortress with five bastions housed a church, bakery, living quarters, workshops, shops and prison cells. Its walls were painted yellow to reduce the effect of heat and sun. Today it houses a military museum and is also the home of the Cape Town Highlanders Regiment – a mechanised infantry unit. So do pay it a visit during your stay with us at Fin Whale Beach House! You won’t be sorry!

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