Pietermaritzburg boasts a high concentration of tourist attractions with the vast majority easily accessed via comfortable, self-guided Town Trails. Standing on the original Voortrekker site, the imposing all brick City Hall dominates the city centre. Across the road the Parliament Buildings are also rooted in history... the foundation stone was laid on 21 June 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee, and its soaring columns and copper domes reflect the grand and seemingly-invincible mood of the time.
The central shopping area's pedestrian precinct reveals perfectly how the short-lived Voortrekker ideal was superimposed with Victorian London. A browser's delight, the specialist shops - notably colonial-era literature and Africana - are conveniently interspersed with quaint cafes and taverns.
Two museums in Pietermaritzburg convey the importance of church life in pioneering the Midlands region. St Peter's became Bishop Colenso's cathedral in 1857 after his doctrinal rebellion caused a schism in the colony's Church of England congregation - his tomb stands before the altar. Macrorie House is the former residence of the Bishop of Pietermaritzburg 1869 - 1891, and contains Bishop Macrorie's famous miniature chapel complete with altar and ornamental screen.
The Natal Museum, meanwhile, covers all aspects of our kingdom's history...beginning with the artwork of pre- Zulu, San hunter-gatherer inhabitants. The Tatham Art Gallery is among this country's top seven art museums, attracting curious and connoisseur alike with its eclectic mix of beadwork and basketry, oils and linocuts.
At the risk of clich, it must be said that the parks and gardens of Pietermaritzburg are also a picture both private and public domains bursting with lush greenery and blooms-of- the-season. Splendid azaleas are displayed among the majestic indigenous trees that fill the National Botanic Gardens proteas highlight the features at Wylie Park and Alexandra Park's olde worlde Pavilion is surrounded by superb roses and winter-flowering aloes. An avenue of palm trees provides the perfect finishing touch!
Try one of the easy hiking trails on the edge of Pietermaritzburg for a higher ratio of country-to-city. The Green Belt at Ferncliff and aptly-named World's View, plus Savannah at Bisley Nature Reserve, each offer the enjoyment of wild flowers, birdlife and small animals within a gentle stroll.
Queen Elizabeth Park is not only the reserve home of KZN Wildlife authorities, but also the opportunity to picnic, explore and view rhino. A garden of more sombre mood is among the city's war memorials - the Garden of Remembrance holds the famous Weeping Cross of Delville Wood... built of timber salvaged from that dreadful battlefield. The cross 'weeps' on, or around, the July anniversary of the First World War battle in which many South African servicemen lost their lives.
A trail with more sombre affiliations is the Route du Prince Imperial Louis Napoleon that traces, through the streets of Pietermaritzburg, the funeral procession of any last hope of a Napoleonic dynasty. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's great-nephew Louis - exiled to England - had volunteered to 'observe' with British forces engaged in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and was speared to death after dismounting to sketch the surrounding countryside. His coffin passed through the town en route from the battlefields of Zululand back to England.
The eviction, in 1893, of young Indian lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi from a 1st Class 'Whites Only' railway carriage on Pietermaritzburg Station is remebered by the erection of a striking statue in Church Street Mall pays homage to the Mahatma - Great Soul.
More currently - and inextricably linked to our 'New South Africa' - former president Nelson Mandela's biography sees Pietermaritzburg heading three chapters. These are his first appearance in a court of law... final public speech as leader of our country and - beyond city limits near Howick - the arrest that led to his 26-year incarceration. A small monument at this last-mentioned site is regularly visited by school tours, foreign and local visitors.
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