Image: Voortrekker Monument

Description: The Voortrekker Monument outside Pretoria was completed in 1949. Inside is a marble frieze containing 27 panels commemorating events of the Great Trek in which farmers of mainly Dutch origin emigrated from the eastern frontier region of the Cape Colony, to the inland regions of the current South Africa, between 1835 and 1854. At the centre of the monument is the cenotaph which bears the inscription "We for thee, South Africa". An opening in the dome atop the monument is positioned so that every year at noon on the 16th of December a beam of sunlight illuminates the cenotaph. Prior to the 1994 elections which heralded a new dispensation, December 16th was celebrated as the "Day of the Vow", commemorating the victory over Zulus forces in the Battle of Blood River; it remains a holiday but is now called "Reconciliation Day". Surrounding the monument is a circular wall with reliefs representing 64 wagons pulled into a circle.
Title: Voortrekker Monument
Credit: Own work
Author: John Walker, Images of Africa Taken from de-Wikipedia, where it had been uploaded by Head under the same filename.
Permission: This document is in the public domain.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No