Jan and Maria van Riebeeck, Cape Town, South Africa
S 33° 55.166 E 018° 25.559
34H E 262040 N 6243793
Jan van Reibeeck was the Commander of Cape Town from 1652 to 1662. (Maria was his wife and reported to be the first French person to have arrived in Cape Town).
Waymark Code: WMJ7EM
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
Date Posted: 10/06/2013
Views: 4
Jan van Riebeeck is immortalized in a statue in downtown Cape Town, at the location that is considered to be the location where he originally landed, in the year 1652. The location is now on Heerengracht Street (Rue Heerengracht), and the statue, which was created by sculptor John Tweed, was donated to the city by Cecil John Rhodes.
A sculpture created by the Dutch sculptor Dirk Wolbers, of Jan's wife, Maria de la Queillerie was donated to the city in 1952 by the Jan van Reibeeck Society on the 300th Anniversery of the city of Cape Town, and it is located just a few feet away.
About the van Riebeecks:
Jan van Riebeeck was the Commander of Cape Town from 1652 to 1662. He landed near the spot where his statue currently stands, and was given the responsibility to build a fort and improve the harbor at Table Bay, which would be used as a refueling station by ships working the Spice Route to the Indies. The fort was built of mud, clay and timber, near the harbor. He created plots for cultivating vegetables and fruit, and negotiated with native peoples for livestock and meat. He is attributed for planting the controversial wild almond hedge in Kirstenbosch, intended to be a protective fence around the Dutch settlement, against the native peoples (a portion of the thorny hedge still exists).
Jan's wife, Maria is reported to be the first person of French descent to land at and live at Cape Town. She was considered a gracious host and also adept at organizing trades with the native peoples. She died at the young age of 35.
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