| The
Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving building in South
Africa. Built between 1666 and 1679, this pentagonal fortification
replaced a small fort of timber and clay built by Commander
Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 upon establishing a maritime replenishment
station at the Cape of Good Hope for the Dutch East Indian
Company or better known as the VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie) On
26 April 1679 the five bastions were named after the main
titles of Willem, the Prince of Orange. The Western Bastion
was named Leerdam; followed in clockwise order by Buren, Katzenellenbogen,
Nassau, and Oranje. In 1936 the Castle was declared a National
Monument. As a result of an extensive, ongoing restoration
and conservation program launched in the 1980's, the Castle
of Good Hope remains the best preserved of its kind built
by the VOC in regions where it had interests in previous centuries.Today,
the Castle of Good Hope house the regional headquarters of
the South African Army in the Western Cape, the famous William
Fehr Collection of historic artworks, the Castle Military
Museum and ceremonial facilities for traditional Cape Regiments.
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