| ||||
     Tweet  | |
Pretoria, South Africa
Author: Petrus (public domain)
Pretoria is the executive and de facto national capital of South Africa. It is located in Gauteng Province in the northeastern part of the country. The city covers 1,644 sq km (634.8 sq mi) and has a population of 2.35 million people (2011 estimate).
Guide to Pretoria Hotels
Here's a list of hotels in Pretoria that you can book online, with full description, star rating, address, location map, evaluation, and prices as offered by different booking sites. This helps you to make your room booking with the site that offers the best price.More on Pretoria
Pretoria is within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, and thus, is often mistakenly called Tshwane, which means "we are the same", and is also the name of a mythical tribal chief. The decision whether or not to change the name of the city is still being deliberated upon, as of 2011. So far it has met with opposition from Afrikaners who felt the change overlooks the history of the city.
Raadsaal, Pretoria
Author: Ţetcu Mircea RareŞ (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius. It is said that he named it after his father Andries Pretorius (which makes little difference, as his own name is also Pretorius).
Pretoria became the capital of the South African Republic in 1860. In 1910, when the Union of South Africa was created, Pretoria became the administrative capital while Cape Town the legislative capital. It was granted city status in 1931. Between 1860 and 1994, it was also the provincial capital of Transvaal.
Melrose House, Pretoria
Author: Stephantom (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Located between the Highveld and the Bushveld, Pretoria is about 1,350 m (4,500 ft) above sea level. It experiences a dry subtropical climate. Summers here are long, hot and rainy while winters cool and dry. January is the warmest month with average high temperature of 29°C. It is also the wettest month, receiveing 136 mm of rain. June and July are the coldest month, with average low temperature of 5°C.
Visiting Pretoria
The nearest international airport is in Johannesburg. If you arrive there, you can take a train to Pretoria. The recommended trains to take are the Shosholoza meyl trains.
Union Buildings, Pretoria
Author: Ţetcu Mircea RareŞ (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Generic)
Places of Interest in Pretoria
- Church Square
Public square at the heart of Pretoria with a number of historic buildings including the Raadsaal (former parliament building of the Boer Republic), and the Palace of Justice. - Fort Klapperkop
Fort built in 1898, today a Gauteng Provincial Heritage Site and a South African National monument. It is open today to the public as a military museum. - Fort Schanskop
Fort outside Pretoria, built in 1897, today a Gauteng Provincial Heritage Site and a South African National monument, also open to the public as a military museum. - John Voster Tower
Telecommunication tower in Pretoria. - Melrose House
A historic building, once the residence of the British Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener. It was built in the 1880s and features many different forms of precast embellishments. - National Zoological Gardens
Also called Pretoria Zoo, this is one of the top zoos in the world and a leading center for the breeding of endangered species. - Pretoria City Hall
Historic building of mixed Neo-Greek and Roman architecture, located next to the Transvaal Museum. In front of the building are the statues of Marthinus Pretorius and his father Andries, after whom the city was named. - Sammy Marks Museum
The home of industrialist and founder of the South African Breweries, today preserved as a museum showcasing its fine Victoria style furnishings. - South African State Theatre
A complex of five theaters where different types of performing arts are staged regularly. - Transvaal Museum
An outstanding natural history museum with a good collection of stuffed animals, archaeological artifacts and geological exhibits. - Union Buildings
Administrative complex of the Union of South Africa built in 1910. - Voortrekker Monument
Monument commemorating the Afrikaner pioneers who trekked from the Cape Colony in the 1830s to free themselves from British rule.
Return to Discover South Africa
  
   
Point - Click - Discover!Thanks for visiting this webpage. To continue exploring, choose another destination! My World Travel Guides - celebrating a beautiful world beautifully. Earning a living as a Happy Jobless GuyI am a Happy Jobless Guy! I am one of the few people who is fortunate enough to earn an income from my websites that I don't to go out to work. My sites get thousands of visitors every day. It has been a long process, but it is something everybody can achieve, and that means YOU. The following are some articles which you might want to read if you want to do what I do:
 |