A Spire at the Afrikaans Taalmonument in Paarl (2021-03-13) – An Exploring South African

Exterior of the glistening granite outcrop higher referred to as Paarl Rock, the historic city of Paarl additionally boasts one other uncommon form clamouring for consideration on its skyline – the tall concrete spires of the Afrikaans Taalmonument, aka the Afrikaans Language Monument.

Paarl is taken into account to be one of many locations the place the foundations of the Afrikaans language have been laid by the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners, and to rejoice the a hundredth anniversary of that individual motion in addition to commemorate the semicentenary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa separate from Dutch, a monument was commissioned after which formally opened on 10 October 1975.

Designed by Jan van Wijk, the monument itself is steeped in symbolism, going to nice lengths to acknowledge the affect of quite a lot of languages resembling Dutch, Malay, Malay-Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, English, and the indigenous Khoi and African languages, on the event of Afrikaans.

Its fascinating although compact and detail-less concrete curves, cones and tapers doesn’t take significantly lengthy to maneuver by way of, although after all you would all the time guide a guided tour to get essentially the most out of the positioning (and may in all probability additionally go to the close by Afrikaans language museum that’s paired with the monument for the complete image), however the Taalmonument does bolster the expertise with a beautiful surrounding unique backyard, distinctive views over the city, slightly (typically operational) restaurant, and luxurious inexperienced lawns which might be pitch excellent for household picnics below this otherworldly trying construction – which coincidentally additionally seems in additional than simply a few tv sequence through the years. Actually, the monument is unattainable to overlook seeing if you end up driving within the Paarl area of the Cape Winelands and is genuinely value a go to.

On this specific outing, having already petted the alpacas, marched about at Meulwater Botanical Backyard and now traipsed across the monument, the women and I opted to cap off (however HOT) time out with a spot of late lunch on the chill JANKAN farm stall expertise. Naturally, there have been lots much less complaints about that leg of the day than the others!

Associated Hyperlink: Afrikaans Taalmonument | Afrikaans Language Monument | Paarl