Franschhoek
| Franschhoek | |||
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| Coordinates | 33 ° 54 '36 " S , 19 ° 7' 33" E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| District | Cape Winelands | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| local community | Stellenbosch | ||
| surface | 3.3 km² | ||
| Residents | 15,616 (2011) | ||
| density | 4,732.1 Ew. / km² | ||
| founding | 1688 | ||
| Website | www.franschhoek.org.za (English) | ||
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Special features: viticulture |
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.jpg) Franschhoek seen from the east
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Franschhoek is a place in the South African province of Western Cape with 15,616 inhabitants. Administratively it belongs to the municipality of Stellenbosch , Cape Winelands district .
The place is about 60 kilometers east of Cape Town at the end of a long valley in which, protected by the Drakenstein mountain range, there is a relatively mild climate.
The name Franschhoek means something like "Franzosenwinkel" or "Franzosenecke". The town was founded in 1688, when around 200 Huguenots who had emigrated from France settled in the area that probably reminded them of their homeland in the French Prealps. A year earlier, a group of Dutch settlers under Simon van der Stel had set up a 50 hectare farm there. The group of French adapted so quickly that after a generation hardly French was spoken , but Afrikaans , the language of the Cape settlers.
Among the French immigrants there were also a number of winemakers who soon realized that the mountains surrounding their settlement would be ideal for viticulture. One of the most important wine-growing regions in South Africa has developed from the first attempts to this day . More than twenty wineries produce top quality wines along the Franschhoek Wine Route.
The Huguenot Museum and the Huguenot Monument are a reminder of Franschhoek's French origins. The Huguenot monument was designed by the sculptor Coert Steynberg in 1938 to mark the 250th anniversary of the town's foundation. The center of the complex is a female figure holding a Bible in her right hand and a broken chain in her left. The ensemble is intended to symbolize liberation from religious oppression. The cityscape with the French restaurants, street cafes, boutiques and galleries on Main Road also indicates the original French influence. Many wealthy South Africans have recently settled in Franschhoek. This means that property prices are among the highest in South Africa.
Vineyard near Franschhoek
The Franschhoek Valley
Huguenot monument
Center Franschhoek
Franschhoek October 2015
Grapevine on farm Bo La Motte (Franschhoek)
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Personalities
- Nolan Hoffman (born April 23, 1985 in Franschhoek), track and road cyclist
