Natal Places To See

Geology The Drakensberg Mountains had their onqm some 200 million years. ago when a vast landmass known as Gondwanaland existed. Through aeons of time, water streaming down from higher ground collected and formed a huge swamp where dinosaurs and other prehistoric...

The treaty under which the Voortrekkers received land from Dingane was signed on 6 February 1838. During the course of the final entertainment before the Voortrekkers was to leave, Dingane ordered his soldiers to kill the Voortrekkers. They were dragged to the Hill of...

The  seat of power of Dingane from  1828 to 1839 is preserved as a  site museum. The iKhanda was destroyed by fire on the orders of Dingane himself when he decided to leave it. On account of the site's excellent state of archaeological preservation, and its...

The R E  Stevenson Museum was established in 1974, and is devoted to the history of the town and the Battle of Colenso, which took place on 15 December 1899.   Exhibits include weapons,  badges, medals, and various personal items as well as historical  photographs....

This charming sandstone building on the corner of Kerk and Loop Streets, in  Utrecht is now a national monument and houses the Utrecht Museum. The museum portrays the border dispute between the Transvaal and Zululand and also some period rooms.

Hlobane 20km east of Vryheid was the scene of a desperate struggle against the Zulu where Boer and Briton fought together in the Anglo-Zulu war.   It was on this occasion in 1879 that Zululand was attacked.  A column under command of Sir Evelyn Wood left Utrecht to...

The new Blood River-Ncome Museum was designed by Hannes Meiring in 1996 and depicts the battle of  Blood  River in its wider  context of migrations, even giving the  story of the American West. Coert Steynberg designed the granite wagon that was erected during  1939,...

Dundee has a unique museum that is situated on the Talana battlefield and housed in the original house and farm buildings of Peter Smith.   It depicts the military history of the area and the agricultural history of the Biggersberg.  A replica of an old mine building...

Friday night the 5th of January 1900 was moonless, and at about midnight, some British outposts on Wagon Hill heard the sound of hymns floating up from the bush below and found it very strange. At 2:40 on Saturday the 5th of January 1900 a night manoeuvre was...

Friday night the 5th of January 1900 was moonless, and at about midnight, some British outposts on Wagon Hill heard the sound of hymns floating up from the bush below and found it very strange. At 2:40 on Saturday the 5th of January 1900 a night manoeuvre was...

The Town Hall Museum was built in 1883 as the Town Clerk's Office, but nowdepicts  the history of the town.

A museum, decidedly Victorian in character, is housed in the original Market House built in It was utilised during the Anglo Boer War as a ration post.  The nearby battle sites - Elandslaagte, Wagon Hill, Nicholson's Nek, etc., offer the best of the epic sequence of...

The spectacular Sani Pass pierces the Drakensberg Mountains through a narrow defile cut by the  mKomazana  River.    Once  it was  nothing  more than  a  vague  footpath  used by Bushman but later became the main route for the early traders, missionaries and...

In 1830 two missionaries explored the mountains and when they reached the eastern edge they found themselves on the summit of a mountain known to the Sotho as Phofung - 'place of the eland'.  They renamed it Mont-aux-Sources as they found the sources of many rivers...

South of Cathkin Peak the main wall of the Drakensberg maintains a level of more than 3 OOOm for 35km, presenting a relentless wall of dark basalt rock, which ends in a huge corner stone known as Giant's Castle.  A Zulu legend is that the mountain dislikes being...

One of the great cornerstones of the main wall of the Drakensberg, Cathkin Peak, stands out so prominently and dominates the entire range so completely that the Zulu have named  it Mdedele -  'make room for him'.  The 3  148m high Cathkin Peak is detached from the...

For many years Cathedral Peak was known as Zikhali's Horn - after the son of Matiwane. King Dingaan killed Matiwane but Zikhali's life was spared.   He took refuge in Swaziland where  he fell  in  love with  one  of  King Sobhuza's  daughters  and they fled  back  to...

A little  known chapter  in President  Mandala's  history took place right in the  midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. On August  5,-  1962,  after  evading  the  authorities  for  over  a  year, Mr Mandela, then 44, was· finally arrested at Tweedie, just outside Howick, thus...

In a section of indigenous·forest in the Karkloof hills, 17km from Howick, is an aerial canopy tour, taking visitors on a  series of 'foefie-slide' type rides through the forest  canopy.  This adventure takes about 3 hours, and visitors can see a  range of indigenous...

One  of  South  Africa's  8  National  Botanical  Gardens,  this  garden  is  renowned  for  its magnificent Plane Tree avenue, and wide variety of indigenous plants, giving  spectacular displays of colour during  spring,  summer  and  autumn. There  is a  Useful...

Situated  at  18  Connaught  Road  Scottsville  the  Comrade's  Marathon  House  is  an old Victorian dwelling, which  has been restored to its original splendour. The  City  Council of Pietermaritzburg  has  listed .thls  fine  old  building. It  contains...

Situated on the· corner of Loop and Pine Streets, it belonged to the right Reverend Bishop of Maritzburg, William Kenneth Macrorie, from 1870 to 1892.   Bishop Macrorie came to Natal as a result of a schism in the Anglican Church brought about by the controversy...

To the north west of Pietermaritzburg the slopes of Swartkop, a peak of the Boesmansberg, rise gradually to the top and then suddenly form a natural platform from where one has an unparalleled view of the town and the Msunduzi Valley.   This observation  post bears ...

The former principal thoroughfare, Church Street, was converted in 1990 into one of the most attractive pedestrian shopping malls in South Africa.   It features fountains and a bandstand and is a delight for visitors with a variety of shops and attractive buildings....

Church Street - The building was designed by Philip Dudgeon and is considered  to be his masterpiece.  It was modelled on the Bank of Ireland in Belfast and built in 1882.  One of its features   is  the  stained  glass  window  that depicts the  four  seasons  in...

Longmarket Street - The facade is constructed entirely of Natal dressed stone with a great variety of shapes, sizes and design.  The window over the main entrance shows the pre-1908 Natal coat of Arms with the wildebeest running from left to right.  It is the only...

The Fort Napier church was built in 1897.  The carved choir stalls is the work of a  British soldier and the beautiful stained glass windows feature the daisy as the Sheffield trademark. It was used as a military hospital in 1900 with 427 soldiers having been nursed...

Fort Napier stands on a hill to the west of Pietermaritzburg, at the top of Church Street and commands a fine view of the whole city.   It  dates back to 1843 when it was  used as the British military headquarters in Natal. Interesting artillery pieces are mounted in...

The Colonial Government bought this house in Long Market Street from Sir Benjamin Pine, Lieutenant  Governor  of Natal, for  use as an official  Government  House.    Several  other governors in succession occupied it after Pine. Considerable alterations were  made to...

St. Peter's Church, or Bishop J.W. Colenso's Cathedral, stands at the corner of Church and Chapel  Streets.   Sophy Grey, wife of the  Bishop of Cape Town,  probably drew  the  first sketches. The  stained  glass  windows  were brought  from  a  pre-Reformation  Abbey...