Despite its name, the castle isn't one of those
fairy-tale fantasies you find perched on a cliff. It's a squat fortress
that hunkers into the ground as if to avoid shellfire. Built between 1665
and 1676 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to replace an earthen fort
constructed by Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, it's the oldest building in the
country. Its pentagonal plan, with a diamond-shape bastion at each corner,
is typical of the Old Netherlands defense system adopted in the early 17th
century. The design was intended to allow covering fire for every portion
of the castle. As added protection, the whole fortification was surrounded
by a moat, and the sea nearly washed up against its walls. The castle
served as both the VOC headquarters and the official governor's residence,
and still houses the regional headquarters of the National Defence Force.
Despite its bellicose origins, no shot has ever been fired from its
ramparts, except ceremonially.
You can wander around on your own or join one of the guided tours at no
extra cost. Also worth seeing is the excellent William Fehr Collection.
Housed in the governor's residence, it consists of antiques, artifacts,
and paintings of early Cape Town and South African history.
Conservationists should go upstairs to see John Thomas Baine's The
Greatest Hunt in Africa, celebrating a "hunt" in honor of Prince
Alfred, when nearly 30,000 animals were driven together and slaughtered. .
COST: R18. OPEN:
Weekdays 9-3:30, Sat. 9-1; tours at 11, noon, and 2.
