Voortrekker Monument

포르트레커 기념관

The Voortrekker Monument is a huge granite building on a hilltop just south of Pretoria, South Africa. It honors the Voortrekkers, the pioneers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854 on a long journey inland called the Great Trek. The architect was Gerard Moerdijk, and in 2011 the monument was declared a National Heritage Site.

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At a glance

Country: South Africa
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Built: 1949
Height: 40 m
Type: Monument

Quick answers

Where is Voortrekker Monument?

Voortrekker Monument is in Pretoria, South Africa.

When was Voortrekker Monument built?

Voortrekker Monument was built in 1949.

A massive granite monument to the Great Trek pioneers, ringed by a wall of 64 carved ox wagons.

Construction began on 13 July 1937, and the monument was opened on 16 December 1949. It cost about 360,000 pounds. According to Wikipedia, the building is 62 metres high with a base 40 metres by 40 metres. It looks a little like European monuments such as the Dome of Les Invalides in Paris, but it also uses African and Egyptian ideas.

What is inside?

The main entrance leads to the domed Hall of Heroes, where four tall arched windows of yellow glass from Belgium light the room. All around it runs the Historical Frieze, 27 marble panels carved to tell the story of the Great Trek from 1835 to 1852. It is described as the biggest marble frieze in the world. In the middle of the floor is a round opening, and through it you can see the Cenotaph, an empty tomb-like memorial, in the hall below.

Why do people visit on 16 December?

The architect designed the dome so that a ray of sunlight shines through an opening in the roof at noon on 16 December each year. The sunbeam falls onto the center of the Cenotaph, lighting up the words "Ons vir Jou, Suid-Afrika", which are Afrikaans for "We for thee, South Africa". Outside, a wall of 64 ox wagons made of granite forms a circle around the monument, matching the number of wagons used in a famous battle at Blood River.