Striated Skies No. 31 – Art School

The Bloemhof School Building was declared a National Monument in June 1976. As the Government Gazette article says the building is an outstanding example of the “eclectic” style of building in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The building opened on June the 2nd 1907.  Bloemhof Girls School moved from this location in 1960, it is currently the only Afrikaans girls high school in the Western Cape and has over 700 pupils. The building is currently home to part of the Stellenbosch University museum and houses the Sasol Art Museum (the rest of the Stellenbosch University museum is housed in the First Lutheran Church building at the corner of Dorp and Bird Streets).

Stellenbosch is the second oldest European settlement in South Africa and thus has a number of buildings that are of historical significance. The list of heritage sites is very long and interestingly enough there are oak trees on the list. As I said there are a number of beautiful buildings and I know that more of them will be part of this collection.

You must take a trip to Stellenbosch when you are in Cape Town. There is so much to do and I am sure that I will explain more with posts to follow.