Seweweekspoort is a mountain pass located along the
R323 regional route running from
Zoar
Zoar may refer to:
* Zoara, a city mentioned in Genesis as part of the Biblical Pentapolis
Places
;Canada
* Zoar, Newfoundland and Labrador
;England
* Zoar, Cornwall
;South Africa
* Zoar, Western Cape
;United States
* Zoar, Delaware
* Zoar, Ind ...
and
Laingsburg in the western
Little Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi- desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ...
region of South Africa's
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 ...
province. The highest point in the Western Cape,
Seweweekspoort Peak, is located close to the pass. The pass and surrounding area is a popular tourist attraction due to the diversity of local flora and the geology of the surrounding mountains.
Name
Various theories exist about the origin of the name for the pass. The most plausible is that it is named after Rev. Louis Zerwick of the Berlin Missionary Society and probably worked at
Amaliënstein and Zoar . In the vernacular the pronunciation of Zerwickspoort became Seweweekspoort.
History
In the 1850s construction began on the road alongside the Gamka River using prison labor. The road was completed in November 1862 and is still in use.
References
Regional Routes in the Western Cape
1862 establishments in the British Empire
Mountain passes of the Western Cape
Karoo
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