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The Castle of Good Hope.
The Castle of Good Hope.
Entrance to the Castle of Good Hope.
Entrance to the Castle of Good Hope.
The 5 historical flags of South Africa in chronological order, the current flag is the sixth at the left side.
The 5 historical flags of South Africa in chronological order, the current flag is the sixth at the left side.
Sketch of Castle of Good Hope Courtyard in VOC Document.
Sketch of Castle of Good Hope Courtyard in VOC Document.
Castle of Good Hope Courtyard as it is today.
Castle of Good Hope Courtyard as it is today.
Castle of Good Hope Gateway.
Castle of Good Hope Gateway.

The Castle of Good Hope is a star fort which was built on the original coastline of Table Bay and now, because of land reclamation, seems nearer the centre of Cape Town, South Africa. A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came Table Bay ( Afrikaans Tafelbaai) is a natural inlet overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula which stretches Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Contents

History

Built by the VOC between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest building in South Africa. The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian It replaced an older fort made out of clay and timber that was built in 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck upon his arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck ( 21 April, 1619 &ndash 18 January, 1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator The Cape of Good Hope ( Afrikaans: Kaap die Goeie Hoop, Kaap de Goede Hoop Cabo da Boa Esperança Persian Language: دماغه امید نیک The purpose of both were to 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. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands See http//enwikipediaorg/wiki/WikipediaFootnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags and the template below

During 1664, tensions between Britain and the Netherlands rose with rumours of war being imminent — that same year, Commander Zacharius Wagenaer was instructed to build a pentagonal castle out of stone. Early Modern Britain is the History of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th 17th and 18th centuries In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere On 26 April 1679, the five bastions were named after the main titles of William III of Orange-Nassau: Leerdam to the west, with respectively Buuren, Katzenellenbogen, Nassau and Oranje clockwise from it. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. William III or William of Orange (14 November 1650 &ndash 8 March 1702 He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy" Leerdam (population 21050 in 2004 is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The House of Orange-Nassau (in Dutch: Huis van Oranje-Nassau) a branch of the German House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life

In 1682, the gated entry replaced the old entrance towards the sea. A bell tower, situated over the main entrance, was built in 1684 — the original bell, the oldest in South Africa, was cast in Amsterdam in 1697 by Claude Frémy and weighs just over 300 kilograms. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west It was used to announce time, as well as warning citizens in case of danger, since it could be heard 10 kilometers away. It was also rung to summon residents and soldiers when important announcements needed to be made.

Inside, the Castle housed a church, bakery, various workshops, living quarters, shops and cells, among others. A bakery (also called baker's or bakehouse) is an establishment which produces or/and sells Bread, pies pastries Cakes Biscuits A workshop is a room or Building which provides both the area and Tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of The yellow paint on the walls were chosen because it lessened the effect of heat and the scorching sun. A wall divides the inside, built in order to protect citizens in case of an attack, also houses the well-known Katbalkon which was designed by Louis Michel Thibault. Louis Michel Thibault (28 September 1750 Picquigny - 15 November 1815 Cape Town) was a French-born South African architect and engineer who designed numerous The original was built in 1695, but rebuilt to its current form between 1786 and 1790. Year 1786 ( MDCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year From the balcony, announcements were made to soldiers, slaves and burghers of the Cape. The balcony led to the famous William Fehr collection of paintings and antique furniture.

In 1936 the Castle was declared a national monument. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Due to extensive restorations done during the 1980s, the Castle is the best preserved fort of its kind built by the VOC. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

The Castle acted as local headquarters for the South African Army in the Western Cape, but today houses the Castle Military Museum and ceremonial facilities for the traditional Cape Regiments. The South African Army is the Army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910 The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The Traditional Cape Regiments are the five traditional South African Army Volunteer Regiments from Cape Town, South Africa.

The distinctive shape of the pentagonal castle was used on South African Defence Force flags, formed the basis of some rank insignia from the rank of major up and was used on South African Air Force aircraft. The South African Defence Force (SADF were the South African Armed forces from 1957 until 1994 Major is a Military rank the use of which varies according to country The South African Air Force (SAAF is the Air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria.

See also

External links

References

The Noon Gun has been a historic Time signal in Cape Town, South Africa since 1806
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