FREE Please support our advertisers who make this free guide possible PLEASE TIP Cape Town EMPOWERMENT VENDORS GATEWAYGUIDES The Castle of Good Hope Castle of Good Hope Over the centuries six different flags have flown over The Castle yet in all that time not a single shot has ever been fired in anger at it or from it. Muizenberg 1 False Bay To advertise here contact Hayley Burger: Cape Town • South Africa 021 487 1200 • [email protected] One of his first tasks was to The style of this new castle was Peak. The present day site of the Castle is 1 The reason for a fort at the 4 5 Cape of Good Hope build a fort as the interests associated with the renowned French probably the best of a bad situation. This Cape Point With the expansion of world trade by of the Dutch East India fortress engineer, Sebastien Vauban. position is about 230 metres south east the European powers in the 1500s, Companies latest assets had Menno, Baron van Coehoorn, a Dutch of the old fort. The site is close enough 6 trade routes were vital to economic to be protected at all costs. artillerist and military engineer, was to anchorage, within firing range of the also associated with the outcome of the town and close enough to fresh water. History and facts power. The main trade route to the The first fort built at Castle’s design. The defensive system at the Cape was East used to be overland; but in 1453 the Cape of Good Hope Constantinople was captured by the This design was based on the fact that slowly rectified over time by means of of the Castle including Two days after setting foot Turks which effectively closed off this firepower due to technology had greatly many defensive structures placed around on the shores of Table Bay, 3D illustrations, trade passage. Other routes east had improved to a point where castles of old Cape Town as seen on the map on the Commander Van Riebeeck to be found. were redundant. Their main feature was next page. 2 time line, photos started work on his fort ‘Fort the introduction of tapering outer walls, The dominant seafaring nation in de Goede Hoop’ which was The Ravelin was added just after extremely thick at the base, getting The building of the Castle To advertise here contact Hayley Burger: and information Europe at that time was Portugal. situated on the shore edge the new entrance and bell tower thinner at the top. This revolutionary The main structure of the castle was 021 487 1200 • [email protected] They needed to find a way to the East (the present day ‘Parade’ were moved to this position in 1697. design made the cannon balls ricochet started in 1665 and formally declared by sea. With many voyages down the parking lot next to the Golden off the wall surface instead of a 90 ‘complete’ in 1679, running through west coast of Africa, gaining more The idea behind the ravelin was the Acre building). His choice of degree hit which would weaken the wall This corner of the inner court was first developed by Simon periods of intensity in building operation distance every time, the Cape of Good concept of ‘defence in depth’. The design was the popular square far faster. Breaching the wall by means van der Stel in about 1690 with a flower garden, exotic and and periods of rather slow activities. Hope was finally rounded in 1488 by entrance road kinks right which does with two-gun bastions at each of concentrated fire and charges placed indigenous trees which surrounded a small circular pool. His son, These ebbs and flows were influenced Bartholomeu Dias. In 1498, Vasco not allow an enemy a direct shot at corner. These bastions are the The new main entrance and in the weakened area by attacking Willem van der Stel, enlarged the pool to its present size. The pool by the states of alliances and treaties da Gama finally broke the deadlock the entrance gate. same shape as the ones seen infantrymen became extremely hard Bell Tower put in place by was demolished in 1860 and restored in 1984. between nations in Europe. and made the voyage to the East on the Castle today. due to the thickness of the wall and the Simon van der Stel and the and back, laden with spices. In 1503, The four bastions of the older castle were named after the ships that brought nature of the tapering design which did not collapse under its own weight. Most of the material needed for the Castle were found locally, this being the visiting Commissioner Van Antonio de Saldanha put in at Table them to the Cape: Oliphant, Rijger, Drommedaris and Walvisch. The outer The other feature of their revolutionary design was the extensive defensive bulk of raw material of stone and mortar. Materials that could not be procurred 3 Goens in 1682-1684. This was Bay and climbed Table Mountain to walls were constructed using sods, clay, and brushwork. Timber and brick were positions beyond the main wall, based on the premise of defence in depth. at the Cape, were brought in from Europe. These were more specialised to replace the original entrance get his bearings. On returning to his To advertise here contact Hayley Burger: used on interior structures. A moat surrounding the fort, which was fed by the This system allowed defenders to enfilade or fire into the flanks of attackers. materials like the ‘klompjes’ (little yellowy coloured bricks that you can see at on the sea-facing curtain ship, he made one discovery that 021 487 1200 • [email protected] Varsche River, was built. As a defensive structure it was very poor. The outer The castle was designed in the shape of a pentagon with 5 bastions placed the main entrance gate). Wood was obtained locally at Hout Bay and overseas. wall between Buuren and would change the face of South Africa walls collapsed more then once under heavy rains. For several years it served at its corners, each containing their own gunpowder magazines. Cannon Catzenellenbogen. for centuries to come. He discovered its primary function as a provision station and, luckily, no major attack by the positions atop these bastions would cover all fields of fire, even right up to After the location of the castle was settled upon, the area had to be cleaned abundant fresh water below the mountain, a key requirement for a halfway local Khoina or foreign power threatened its existence. An accurate model of the base of the curtain walls between bastions. Each bastion would be given of bush and then levelled. Hendrik Lacus did all the measurements and the station to break the long voyage to the East. this fort can be seen in the Military Museum at the present day Castle a name that was one of the official titles of the Prince of Orange, these being taking of levels. Foundations were started with the concentration of work on During a later stop-over another Portuguese ship lost 80 men in a skirmish in Block ‘E’. Leerdam, Oranje, Buren, Katzenellenbogen and Nassau. the bastion that would be called ‘Leerman’ as there primary objective. on the beach with the local inhabitants who apparently misunderstood an The average length from bastion to bastion was 180 metres, with an average Foundations were 5m wide and a depth of 3.5m was required to reach bed The name ‘Kat balcony’ was incorrectly used; it seems to have At the same time as the fort was built and attempt to take some of their people in a rowing boat to visit the Portuguese stuck for this balcony or porch. It was referred to as the ‘puije’ maintained, the Company Gardens were ship as an attempted abduction. by those who built and used it. Anton Anreith and Louis planted to fulfil the primary goal of the Oranje Bastion Michel Thibault are attributed as the creators. Anton was The combination of the Portuguese never putting roots down anywhere on endeavour - to supply passing ships Bakery or Bakhuys an apprentice in the Rococo style which influenced his later 4 Dolphin Pool the South African coast and their political alliance with Spain, made the Dutch Baroque style. Torture Chamber To advertise here contact Hayley Burger: www.iziko.org.za and the English common enemies. This broke the back of the Portuguese as C The Sally Port 7 8 rock. While the digging was taking place, the foundation stone was the dominant trading power. Nassau Bastion 021 487 1200 • [email protected] www.gatewayguides.co.za being cut out of Signal Hill in large blocks; it was then broken up and The English were the first to try and establish a VOC arms relief transported by cart to the castle. Blue slate used for the walls and shells The Cross-Wall D settlement at the Cape, but with a half- Dark Hole 5 used in the process of making mortar (for making lime mixed with clay in hearted backing from their Provost Cells Inner Court or ‘Wapen Plaats’ a ratio of 1:1) were obtained from Robben Island. King, the B The workforce needed to build the biggest building project of its time in Secunde’s quarters F Vertical Sun Dial (afternoon) Governor’s quarters Cape Town was first derived from the soldiers not on military duty. Slaves 2 Vertical Sun Dial (morning) 6 and a few Khoina where also roped into the project. As the urgency to Captain’s Tower finish the project escalated, incentives for the soldiers were put in place, 11 Flags of occupation* free burghers brought in to help with the transportation of material and, at one stage, a proclamation that anyone regardless of rank had to 5 carry baskets of soil when excavating the moat.