What is Voortrekker Monument?
{{no sources|date=March 2025}} [[File:Voortrekker_Monument.jpg|thumb|The Monument from the front]] The '''Voortrekker Monument''' is a [[monument]] in [[Pretoria]] in [[South Africa]]. It is a massive [[granite]] structure on a hilltop. It was built to commemorate the Voortrekkers who left the [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] between 1835 and 1854. It was designed by the architect [[Gerard Moerdijk]]. ==Background== Most of the Voortrekkers were not satisfied with the British government that ruled over them in the Cape. The British made English the official language, established racial equality, and in 1834 abolished slavery. That is why they packed their ox wagons and started the Great Trek to greener valleys to the north of current South Africa. ==Importance== The Voortrekker Monument is an important structure to the Dutch Afrikaner bloodline (children), because it shows many pictures, reliefs and statutes inside the building of what happened in the history of those years. == Heritage == On 8 July 2011, the Voortrekker Monument was declared a [[National heritage sites (South Africa)|National Heritage Site]] by the [[South African Heritage Resource Agency]].<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Voortrekker Monument Declared a National Heritage |date=29 July 2011 |url=http://www.sahra.org.za/voortrekkermonument.pdf |last1=South African Heritage Resource Agency |access-date=27 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005052/http://www.sahra.org.za/voortrekkermonument.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26|author1-link=South African Heritage Resource Agency }}</ref> {{coord|25|46|35|S|28|10|33|E|region:ZA-GT_type:landmark|display=title}} [[Category:Monuments and memorials in South Africa]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Pretoria]] {{geo-stub}}