Castle Of Good Hope Essay

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CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest building in the Cape Town and was the centre of life in the early Cape towns as the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and residence of the Governor of the Cape. It also served as a fortress against invasion by sea. Jan Van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Cape established a refreshment station for the Dutch East India Company as they passed on route to the East. Days after they arrived, Jan Van Riebeeck ordered the build of a fort made of earth and wood on the shore in 1652, but it needed constant repair, thus the construction of the Castle of Good Hope between 1666 and 1679 by Commander Zacharius Wagenaer and the Dutch East India Company, and as the Cape gained …show more content…

The gateway, built in 1682 replaced the old entrance, which faced the sea, the pediment bears the coat of arms of Netherlands, portraying the crowned lion rampant holding the seven arrows of unity in its paw. Carved on the architrave below, the arms of Van Hoorn, Delft , Amsterdam, Middelburg, Rotterdam and Enkhuizen, all Dutch cities in which the United East India Company had chambers. This bears many reminders of the nearly one and a half centuries of VOC presence at the Cape and is a unique example of seventeenth century Dutch classicism. The Castle was built by soldiers, slaves and some indigenous Khoi Khoi using granite from Signal Hill and blue slate and shells from Robben Island. Impressively, the castle was never attacked despite battles in the region during the castle’s lifetime. The Bell at the castle is the oldest in the country and still hangs from its original cross beams. It could be heard from 10 km away when it was rung to sermon soldiers and civilians alike for important

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