Popular posts from this blog
Cape St Blaize:
South African Lighthouse No. 6 The oldest working lighthouse in South Africa today. It was commissioned on 15 March 1864, which means that it's not only the oldest working lighthouse down here, it is also protected under the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999. Pic Source: TravelGround Blog Finding attractive images of this lighthouse, like I did with my previous online adventures , proved quite difficult. This Victorian structure just seem so rigid, reflecting the prim nature of the era , I guess. Obviously any lighthouse stems from the need to protect seafarers from rocky and precarious shores, and this lighthouse is no different; but its location was named by Bartolomeu Dias (when he sailed into Mossel Bay on 3 February 1488*). He called it Bahia (Aguada) de Sao Bras, "the watering place of St Blaize"**. From what I could gather, the southern shores are also lined with cliffs and that there are massive caverns on the sides of these cliffs, w...
Seal Point:
South African Lighthouse No. 17 Image Credit: Cape St Francis News The Tall One At almost 28 metres, the St Francis lighthouse is the tallest masonry lighthouse in South Africa (ie it has obviously been struck by lightning more than once). Its construction also proved to be extremely difficult - the rough terrain hampered logistics, the original builder passed away before the structure could be completed, and his successor managed to complete the lighthouse in just two years, but seem to have used brackish water, which caused plaster rot on some of the interior walls. Fortunately, despite all the setbacks, the basic structure remained intact and Seal Point Lighthouse has been guiding ships to shore since 4 July 1878.
Comments
Post a Comment