Heerenlogement e:rənloʒəmɛntalso known as "Gentlemen's Cave", is a historical cave in the northwest of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, about 30 km north of Graafwater, in the

Cederberg municipality Cederberg Local Municipality is a local municipality which governs an area of the Western Cape province of South Africa stretching from the Cederberg mountains through the middle valley of the Olifants River to the Atlantic coast. It includes ...

, which was used by travellers in the 17th and 18th century as a shelter. The oldest still visible engravings in the Cave were made by

Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony, the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Background Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Steland Maria Lievens ...

1685 Events January–March * January 6 – American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony ...

, with another by Kaie Jesse Slotsbo from the year 1712. Altogether, approximately 130 visitors have inscribed their names along with their dates on the Cave walls, with 30 leaving only their names, and a further thirteen leaving only their initials. Olof Bergh and his company first came across the cave in November

1682 Events January–March * January 7 – The Republic of Genoa forbids the unauthorized printing of newspapers and all handwritten newssheets; the ban is lifted after three months. * January 12 – Scottish minister James Ren ...

while in search of the legendary gold fields of the Monomotapa and were the first Europeans to come across the cave, although Bergh did not engrave his name as many others did. Located near to the cave, is an old

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

British fort dating from the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

is located near to the cave.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 31, 57, 45.8208, S, 18, 33, 10.26, E, display=title Caves of South Africa Archaeological sites in South Africa