CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE

The Castle of Good Hope is the second fort built on South African soil by the Dutch East India Company, and the oldest still intact. The settlers laid the first stones in 1666 and completed it after thirteen years. This pentagonal mini-castle is flanked by five bastions. Until 1811, it was occupied by the governor and civilian notables, but also by barracks for soldiers and officers, and shops. Nicknamed by the sailors "the Tavern of the Seas", it was the centre of all local administrative decisions. On the arrival of the English, it became a military headquarters, it still houses the army headquarters in Cape Town and the ceremony for the handing over of the keys of the guard. In the fort, a military museum recounts the conquests of the colonists and, upstairs, the Anglo-Boer war, with period costumes and weapons. The building also houses a collection of antiques and paintings bequeathed by Williams Fehr, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, the golden age of "Cape Dutch" furniture. Since the "Kat Balcony", public announcements, court sentences and official proclamations were read to the settlers, slaves and soldiers gathered in the courtyard. The Cape Dutch interior style is characterized by austere, imposing and rustic furniture, in the image of the colony. In the second courtyard, you can visit torture rooms and dungeons where slaves and rebellious Hottentots were locked up, attached to rings still hanging on the wall.