The Stadsaal Caves (or Stadtsaal, meaning "town hall") are located in the

Cederberg The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, Western Cape, Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia cedarbe ...

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 area is notable for rock formations, caves and overhangs formed by erosion of lower layers of the sandstone, as well as prehistoric rock paintings. Stadsaal forms part of the

Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve The Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve is a nature reserve located in the north of the Western Cape province, close to the Cederberg Nature Reserve which borders its northwestern limit. It is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom ecosystem and is one of the ...

, which was purchased by WWF South Africa in 1995 and is administered by

CapeNature CapeNature (officially the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board) is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Western Cape Province, South Africa. Parks managed by CapeNature West ...

San rock art

San rock art The San, or Bushmen, are indigenous people in Southern Africa particularly in what is now South Africa and Botswana. Their ancient rock paintings and carvings (collectively called rock art) are found in caves and on rock shelters. The artwork d ...

depicting human figures and elephants is located in an overhang near the Stadsaal Caves. Cederberg rock art is believed to range between 8000 years old and 100 to 200 years old.

Modern history

The caves also include modern graffiti, some dating back to the late 19th century, as visitors recorded their names and date of visit. Prominent names include

D. F. Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South Africa, South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party (South Africa), National Party impleme ...

, later Prime Minister of South Africa, who visited the site in 1919 as Member of Parliament for the Calvinia constituency in which the Cederberg fell. Local farmers arranged annual gatherings at Stadsaal from 1918 to raise funds for Malan's

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

. Prime Minister

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, ( , ; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006) was a South African politician who served as the last Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and as the first executive State President of South Africa from 1984 until ...

and cabinet minister

Dawie de Villiers Dawid Jacobus de Villiers (10 July 1940 – 23 April 2022) was an ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church; a South African Government minister and a Springbok captains, Springbok rugby captain. Biography His father Coenie was a railway c ...

also visited Stadsaal in 1987 and their names, now vandalised, are also recorded on the rock.

Tourism

The site is open to the public and both the main caves and the San rock paintings nearby are accessible via a gravel road. Permits to visit are available from CapeNature offices at Matjiesrivier or Algeria and from guest farms at Dwars River, Krom River and others in the Cederberg Conservancy.

References

Caves of South Africa Archaeological sites in South Africa Rock shelters in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-archaeologist-stub

San rock art

Modern history

Tourism

See also

References