Bainskloof Pass () is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

on the R301 regional road between

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and Ceres in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The 18-kilometer (11-mile) pass, opened in 1854, was constructed by road engineer

Andrew Geddes Bain Andrew Geddes Bain (baptised 11 June 1797 – 20 October 1864), was a Cape Colony geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer. Life history The only child of Alexander Bain and Jean Geddes, both of whom died when Bain was still a ...

with the use of convict labour. Originally built for horse-drawn traffic, the pass was later tarred. The pass reaches at its highest point. Here, the road joins the Witte River, which descends the northern side of the mountains through a precipitous cleft to a stretch of rapids, waterfalls and natural pools. Bainskloof Pass is now a national monument. After roadworks starting in 2018, it finally reopened to the public in June 2022.Getaway Magazine
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Kramat of Sheikh Sulaiman

Near the summit of Bainskloof Pass lies the historic Kramat of Sheikh Sulaiman, a revered Muslim shrine and burial site. Sheikh Sulaiman was a 17th-century Islamic scholar and political exile from the Indonesian archipelago who contributed to the early spread of Islam in South Africa. The kramat is part of the well-known Circle of Kramats around Cape Town and remains an active pilgrimage site for Muslims and visitors seeking spiritual blessings and reflection.

References

External links

Passes Index
at Wild Dog Adventure Riding website * Bainskloof histor

{{commons category, Bain's Kloof Pass Mountain passes of the Western Cape 1854 establishments in the Cape Colony Kramats in South Africa

Kramat of Sheikh Sulaiman

See also

References

External links