Madiba gazing over Bloem

Naval Hill in Bloemfontein has always been a beacon in the Free State capitol and known for the magnificent views of the surrounding city.  In 2012 an eight meter tall bronze sculpture, made by the same sculptor as the one standing in Mandela Square in Sandton, was revealed.  Last year during the #MeetSouthAfrica bloggers trip before Indaba, the one group spent a night in Bloem and visited Naval Hill at sunset.  The pictures they posted were stunning.  I also got to spend a night in Bloem on my way to Jozi earlier in the year and wanted to do the same.  Unfortunately it was cloudy which meant the sunset wasn't going to be as spectacular and I decided not to stick around, but sharing the view with Madiba was still special.     

Bloemfontein statues

This is my last Bloemfontein post from this trip, I promise.  I was actually very disappointed that I didn't have time to explore the city some more.  I have never been to Bloemfontein before and it has so many places, most of historical value, to see.  The one thing I did notice is that there are many statues around Bloemfontein.  Bloemfontein used to be the capital of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State and many leaders involved in the Anglo Boer War and in the establishment of the Union of South Africa came from here.  Below follows a couple I saw.  Some of them you may have spotted in posts over the last week already.

Standing in front of the Fourth Raadsaal is the imposing figure of General Christiaan de Wet (1854 - 1922). De Wet played a major role in the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902) as a general.  During the war he was regarded more and more as the most formidable leader of the Boers in their guerrilla warfare.  In 1902, during peace negotiations after the war, he even acted as State President of the Orange Free State ever so briefly.  For only two days in fact when Presedent Steyn had to leave negotiations due to illness.

Hertzog Square across the road from the Bloemfontein City Hall, stand a statue to James Barry Munnik (JBM) Hertzog (1866 - 1942).  Hertzog rose to the rank of general during the Anglo Boer War, becoming the assistant chief commandant of the military forces of the Orange Free State.  Hertzog became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1924 when his party defeated that of Gen Jan Smuts.  He stayed in office until 1939.

Francis William Reitz (1844 – 1934) had an extremely varied political and judicial career that lasted for over forty-five years and spanned four separate political entities.  Reitz started his political career as a representative on the Cape Colony Parliament.  He was Chief State Justice of the Orange Free State ( 1876 - 1889) before becoming the Boer republic's 5th State President (1889 – 1895).  From 1898 until 1902 he was the State Secretary of the South African Republic (the Boer republic of the Transvaal) before being President of the Senate of the Union of South Africa from 1910 - 1921.

The last statue I want to show is that of President Johannes Henricus Brand (1823 - 1888) in front of the National Afrikaans Literature Museum.  Brand was the 4th State President of the Orange Free State from1864 until his death in 1888. He was such a popular president that the main road in the Bloemfontein city centre was named "President Brand" in his honour.

Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa

During the Apartheid years Bloemfontein was called the judicial capital of South Africa. That was because the Appeals Court of South Africa is situated there.  It used to be thew highest court before the establishment of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.  In 1996 it was renamed the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa by the Constitution and it has 22 judges presiding there.

The court was formed with the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.  The Court initially used accommodation in the Fourth Raadsaal across the road.  The first and only court building was opened on 1 October 1929 and was extended in 1967. It is currently being refurbished and extended to accommodate the increase in the number of cases heard by it and the increased number of judges.

The building is said to have been built in a free Renaissance style. The old part was built with sandstone from Ladybrand and the newer eastern wing with sandstone from Ficksburg. The new part of the building is being similarly clad.

Hertzog Square

Across the road from the Bloemfontein City Hall in Hertzog Square stands a fine monument dedicated to General JBM Hertzog. General Hertzog was a military officer in the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) and later became Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.

Hertzog Square consists of fountains, a reflection pool and the statue created by sculptor Danie de Jager and unveiled in 1968.  There another sculpture on the square of which I haven't been able to find any information.  The male figure in the sculpture looks like he could be Gen Hertzog as well so I assume that its a Anglo Boer War related monument.

Drama Princess was curious to see what the children in the sculpture was reading in the book

Bloemfontein City Hall

I hope you're not tired of Bloemfontein yet, but there are still a couple of things to show you.  Bloemfontein's City Hall is a stately sandstone building designed by Sir Gordon Leithe.  Even though its looks like a very old building from the outside, it was only built in 1935 and is decorated with Italian marble and  Burmese wood. 

I found this very interesting skull design appearing at the bottom of both the towers and thought it quite an interesting feature.

My visit to Bloemfontein was very quick. We got there on the afternoon of a public holiday and left the next morning quite early, so I didn't get a chance to get a visitor guide to the city giving all the information on the tourists attractions.  Its actually been very difficult finding info to accompany the pics on here over the last couple of days as the stuff on the internet has also been very limited.  Anyway, the picture above is of the building right around the corner from the City Hall and seemingly attached to it.  The only info I could find is that it might possibly be the Clarendon Hall.

Twin Towered Church

The 'Tweetoringkerk' (Twin Towered Church) in Bloemfontein is one of the city's most notable buildings. It's cornerstone was laid by President Brand in 1878. It was built in the German neo-Gothic style and inuargirated on 7 May 1880.  Up to then the occasion was the biggest Bloemfontein has ever seen with about 6 000 people attending, most of them from the surrounding farms.

The church has changed its face from the old Afrikaans only Dutch Reformed Church to what is now known as the "Towers of Hope" congregation.  The services are attended by people of all colours, from white farmers and their families to homeless people living on the street in the surrounding areas.  The church also offers a daily (17:00) soup kitchen, food parcels that are distributed all over town and a needle work job creation project.  Other projects have started out of the church's vision with a teacher offering her services in the afternoons to teach homeless adults to read and write, young lawyers assisting the homeless with legal advice and two doctors who come in after work to offer medical help to those in need. Truly an example that could  be followed by many others.

National Afrikaans Literature Museum

The National Afrikaans Literature Museum in Bloemfontein is only about a block from the Fourth Raadsaal I featured yesterday.  This building originally accommodated the government structures of the Republic of the Orange Free State in the 1800s and is reminiscent of the old Cape-Dutch architecture in the area. The National Afrikaans Literature Museum, with the largest collection of Afrikaans literature and manuscripts in the world, as well as artifacts belonging to well-known Afrikaans writers, is housed in this building.

Standing in front of the building is a statue of President JH Brand who was the fourth state president of the Orange Free State from 1864 until his death in 1888.  The street on which the museum as well as a number of other prominent historical buildings stand was also names after him.

The Fourth Raadsaal

Bloemfontein in the Free State has a collection of beautiful historic buildings and statues all situated in the centre of town.  The one I liked the most on my recent visit was the Fourth Raadsaal. The foundation stone was laid by then Orange Free State President F. W. Reitz in 1890 and the building was completed in 1893. It is a Renaissance-style building in red brick with a prominent dome and a portico of Ionic columns.

The last session of the Parliament of the old Boer republic of the Orange Free State was held here before the occupation of Bloemfontein by British forces in March 1900. In front of the building is a monument (by Coert Steynberg) to Christiaan de Wet, a general during the Boer War.

The Fourth Raadsaal is now the seat of the Provincial Council of the province of Free State.  Good thing we were there over the weekend, otherwise the place would probably have been packed with cars.

Bloemfontein from Naval Hill

The city of Bloemfontein (Bloem meaning bloom or flower and fontein meaning fountain) is the capital of the Free State province and is situated roughly in the centre of South Africa.  The city's nickname is the City of Roses (although there wasn't really any roses in bloom around at the time of my visit. Perhaps I was in the wrong part of town for it) and its also the judicial capital of South Africa as this is where the country's Supreme Court of Appeal is situated.  The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs" and it has been included in the Mangaung Local Municipality since 2000.

The city (1,395 metres above sea level) is surrounded by the flat grass lands of the Free State which is mostly farming areas.  As there aren't many high points around the city, Naval Hill stands out quite clearly and for the best view of the city, one has to take a drive up to one of the view points on the hill. 

A panorama view from Naval Hill