Matjiesfontein

Province

Matjiesfontein is a village in Victorian style on the edge of the Karoo in the Western Cape Province in South Africa. 2011 the town had 422 inhabitants.

History

Matjiesfontein was originally just a small railway station on the main line Johannesburg Kimberley - De Aar Worcester Cape Town, built for the farmers of the arid environment in which the vegetation is so sparse that largely sheep farming is possible. The station also took advantage of steam locomotives, the preconceived there on the road through the Karoo water.

1876 ​​could be the Scot James Douglas Logan down here. Since his childhood, Logan had suffered from a lung disease that has been cured in the dry climate. For this reason, he decided to expand Matjiesfontein for health and holiday resort. Logan let the Lord Milner Hotel building. Prominent figures like Cecil Rhodes, Edgar Wallace and Rudyard Kipling came to Matjiesfontein. Olive Schreiner lived from 1890 to 1892 in the place.

In 1970 the settlement was declared a national monument. Even today, many visitors arrive by Matjiesfontein.