Riebeek-Kasteel () is one of the oldest towns in

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 ...

, situated at 80 km north-east of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in The Riebeek Valley together with its sister town

Riebeek West Riebeek West () is a small town situated about 75 km north-east of Cape Town and 5 km north of its twin town Riebeek Kasteel in the Swartland area of the Western Cape, South Africa. The Riebeek Valley would have been known to ind ...

. They set off in the direction of Paardeberg and on 3 February 1661 they ascended a lonely mountain and came upon the fertile vista of the Riebeek Valley. They named it Riebeek Kasteel, in honor of the Commander.

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

was born in Bovenplaatz, near

, on 24 May 1870. Daniel Malan was born in 1874 in Riebeeck West. Both men later became prime ministers of

. Subsequently farmers established themselves in the valley and during 1900 the town was laid out in and around its existing church and its neighbor The Royal Hotel, the oldest hotel in South Africa. The town eventually developed and today it houses more or less 2700 residents including some of South Africa's most famous painters, attracted by the picturesque surroundings of the valley. The town also serves as a satellite, a residential settlement for

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

and even the Cape Town Metropolitan area. In 2009 Riebeek-Kasteel was chosen one of the three most beautiful towns of the Western Cape by the newspaper "

Rapport Rapport ( ; ) is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly. The word derives from the French language, French ve ...

". The other two finalists were

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

and Clanwilliam.

Sources

* Swartland Municipality * ''Riebeek Valley Handbook''

References

External links

Riebeek Valley Tourism
- Link to the website of the Riebeek Valley Tourism
Oukloof forced removals in the Western Cape of South Africa
– A community web site documenting the known history of the forced removal of the residents of Oukloof to Esterhof in the 1960s {{West Coast District Municipality Populated places in the Swartland Local Municipality