Montagu (South Africa)
| Montagu | |||
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| Coordinates | 33 ° 47 ′ S , 20 ° 7 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| District | Cape Winelands | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| local community | Langeberg | ||
| height | 210 m | ||
| Residents | 10,273 (2001) | ||
| founding | 1851 | ||
| Website | www.montagu.org.za (English) | ||
 Street with a church
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Montagu is a town in Langeberg municipality , Cape Winelands district , Western Cape Province in South Africa . It is located in a fertile valley at the confluence of the Kingna River and Keisie Rivers on Route 62 . The city is 210 meters above sea level and has 15,176 inhabitants (as of 2011).
history
The city was founded in 1851 as Agter Cogman's Kloof (German: "Behind Cogmans Pass") and was later named after John Montagu , the colonial secretary for the Cape Colony . At first it was difficult to access. The teams of oxen always needed many hours to overcome the difficult Cogman's Pass. It was not until 1877 that the engineer Thomas Bain built a road and blasted a small tunnel through the mountain, through which traffic still runs on the R62 today. The British built a fort there during the Second Boer War .
Montagu is now a small town with numerous well-kept Cape Dutch and Victorian buildings. Numerous artists and artisans have chosen Montagu as their domicile and contribute to the special atmosphere of the place.
Attractions
The biggest attraction of Montagu is the thermal bath , three kilometers from the town center. The healing springs were once discovered by one of the Voortrekkers passing through , who bathed his injured hand in the 45 degrees Celsius hot, iodine-containing water and was able to move on after just a few days. On January 25, 1981, a flood by the Keisie destroyed the entire bath complex, which was then rebuilt.
Nature reserves in the area:
- Cogman's Kloof Mountain Reserve
- Montagu Mountain Reserve
- MontEco Nature Reserve
In the middle of the village is a large colony of birds with cattle herons , African gray herons , little egrets , black-necked herons , many sacred ibises , shags and masked weaver birds . Especially in October there is a lot of activity in the colony with many nests. Since 2009 there has been an observation stand at the pond in front of the colony with good observation possibilities from close by.
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Information on Montagu
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 22, 2013