There’s enough diversion for a day or two in Bloemfontein’s surprisingly fine Oliewenhuis Art Gallery, set in beautiful gardens, and in the unmistakably provincial President Brand Street, lined with handsome, sandstone public buildings, according to Rough guides.
As Free State’s heavyweight city, Bloem (as it is usually called) is also the seat of the provincial parliament and South Africa’s Court of Appeal. It’s also a thriving international centre for gliding, the flatness of the local terrain and the hot summer weather producing some of the world’s finest thermals.
The National Women’s Monument and War Museum
Bloemfontein is the capital of what was known as the Orange Free State – a Boer Republic that was at the epicentre of the Second South African War (1899-1902), fought between the British and the Afrikaners, with African involvement on both sides. The War Museum is therefore one of the most historically pertinent in South Africa, while the Monument commemorates the sacrifices and suffering of Afrikaans women and children during the War, many of whom died in British-run concentration camps.
- Address: Monument Road, Bloemfontein/Mangaung.
- Tel: +27 51 447 1920
Website
Oliewenhuis Art Gallery
A neo-Cape Dutch manor house where State presidents stayed on their visits to the city, this is a great place to have a picnic on the beautiful, sprawling lawns, and there is also a tea garden and restaurant. If you’re feeling energetic, stretch your legs out along one of the marked walking trails through the surrounding bush.
- Address: 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein/Mangaung.
- Tel: +27 51 447 9609
Mangaung
The township areas of Bloemfontein are home to a number of historical apartheid struggle heritage sites, including Maphikela House where Thomas Maphikela, a founder of the ANC, lived, as well as Klein Makhasa Hall, where Nelson Mandela gave an address before the adoption of the ANC’s Freedom Charter.
- Address: Morakile Street, Bochabela; and Klein Makhasa Hall.
Mmabana Cultural Centre
For unrivalled Sotho arts and crafts, make a trip out of town for 65km on the N8, to Thaba Nchu, mountain stronghold of famous nineteenth-century Sotho king Moshoeshoe, who never suffered a military defeat and was famous for his diplomacy.