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Sir Cecil John Rhodes was born in England. In 1870, at the age of 17, he and his brother visited South Africa due to Cecil’s lung infection. Sir Cecil John Rhodes soon fell in love with South Africa and, in his young years, worked on a cotton plantation. He and his brother lived in the diamond city, Kimberley.
When the diamond craze erupted in South Africa he bought diamond land. At the tender age of 19, he found his first diamond with his company “Gold fields of South Africa Company”. With his knowledge, and a fair amount of luck, he became one of the richest men in South Africa. He was known as the “Diamond King”. What most people do not know is that Sir Cecil John Rhodes was the founder of the famous “De Beers Mining Company” that still exists very successfully today.
Sir Cecil John Rhodes bought the eastern parts of Table Mountain in 1895 with the money from the mining company. The reason behind this purchase was to conserve in this area. He entered into the political arena of the country and in 1884 was made Minister of Finance. In 1890 he was elected Premier of Western Province.
He turned his attention to the construction of the railroad and the management of the fertile fallow land in South Africa. The two Boer republics, Orange Freestate and the South African Republic, were founded between the 1854 and 1856. A coup attempt by Sir Cecil John Rhodes was unsuccessful and forced him to resign from his political career.
Sir Cecil John Rhodes died on the 26th March 1902 in his holiday house in Muizenberg. On the south side of Muizenberg you will find Rhodes’ Cottage, the holiday house where he spent the final years of his life. His final resting place, however, is in Zimbabwe in the Matopas Mountains.
After his death the “Rhodes Memorial” was built on the slopes of the mountain near to the University of Cape Town. You will reach this memorial via the M3 from Cape Town. This memorial was built from the granite in Table Mountain. Entrance is free there is a restaurant and enclosure with wild animals.
Our Tip:
Visit “Rhodes Memorial” and then the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Prepare a daytrip as the gardens are very big and require plenty of time to be enjoyed thoroughly.
Bantry Bay & Clifton - Blouberg - Camps Bay - Cape Flats - Cape of good Hope & Cape Point - Chapman’s Peak Drive - Groot Constantia - False Bay - Franschhoek - Hout Bay - Kirstenbosch - Llandudno - Ratanga Junction - Stellenbosch - Rhodes Memorial - Robben Island - Sea Point - Wine Region - Cape Peninsula - Muizenberg - Simon's Town - Cape Town Accommodation - Kapstadt - < Back - Cape Town Surroundings |
