Natal Places To See
Here you will find a overview of Natal Places To See.The Drakensberg
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...
Piet Retief’s Grave
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...
uMgungundlovu
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...
R E Stevenson Museum
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....
Old Parsonage Museum
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.
Uys monument
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...
Blood River – Ncome Museum
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,...
Talana Museum
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...
Platrand / Wagon Hill
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...
Gandhi Statue Ladysmith
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...
Town Hall
The Town Hall Museum was built in 1883 as the Town Clerk's Office, but nowdepicts the history of the town.
Siege Museum
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...
Sani Pass
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...
Mont-aux-Sources
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...
Giant’s Castle
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...
Cathkin Peak
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...
Cathedral Peak
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...
Mandela Monument
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...
Karkloof Canopy Tour
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...
Natal National Botanical Garden
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...
Comrades Marathon House
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...
Macrorie House Museum
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...
Old Voortrekker Road, World’s View
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 ...
Reid’s Building
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....
Standard Bank
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...
Post Office Pietermaritzburg
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...
St. George’s Garrison Church
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
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...
Old Government House
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
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...