Saturday, June 12, 2010

Jan van Riebeeck, the first European to settle in South Africa

Image: The first European to settle in South Africa, Jan van Riebeeck, arrives in Table Bay in April 1652, Devil's Peak in the background, painting by Charles Bell (1813-1882).

Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town in South Africa. Devil's Peak, standing 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) high, is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town, the central districts of which are nestled within this natural amphitheatre. Today’s city grew out of the first Dutch settlement and some of the first farms in the Cape were established on the slopes of Devils Peak, along the Liesbeek River.

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