Villiersdorp
| Villiersdorp | |||
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| Coordinates | 33 ° 59 ′ 0 ″ S , 19 ° 17 ′ 0 ″ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| District | Overberg | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| local community | Theewaterskloof | ||
| height | 466 m | ||
| surface | 2.9 km² | ||
| Residents | 10,004 (2011) | ||
| density | 3,461.6 Ew. / km² | ||
| founding | 1843 | ||
 Villiersdorp seen from the surrounding mountains
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Villiersdorp is a South African town in the municipality of Theewaterskloof , Overberg District , Western Cape Province at an altitude of 466 meters above sea level. In 2011 the city had 10,004 inhabitants. Franschhoek is 32 kilometers, Worcester 63 kilometers and Cape Town 96 kilometers away.
history
The town was founded in 1843 by Pieter De Villiers, on whose farm the first buildings were erected. Due to the poor road and rail connections, the city developed only slowly in the first decades. It was only electrified in 1928 when a hydroelectric power station was built.
The De Villiers family has played an important role in the history of the municipality to this day. Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff , was Mayor of Cape Town from 1891. He founded De Villiers Graaff High School in 1907 with the gift of the property and a donation of £ 50,000 . His son became an opposition leader in parliament in 1957. The main source of income for the city are the surrounding orchards and, to a lesser extent, viticulture. The city is part of the Worcester Wine Route . The Villiersdorp Wine Cellar was founded in 1922 and is the oldest in the Overberg region.
Attractions
The Theewaterskloof Reservoir is the seventh largest reservoir in South Africa with an area of around 52 square kilometers. It opened on April 24, 1982.
The nature reserve Villiersdorp Wild Flower Garden and Nature Reserve comprises 530 hectares of fynbos vegetation. There are a large number of silver tree plants , including Leucospermum and Erica species; In addition, 60 Protea species are known there so far . 130 plant species are endemic . About 70 species of birds can be observed, including Cape sugarbird , sunbirds , Wattle , bokmakierie , white-eyes , Cape Spurfowl , guinea fowl and flycatchers .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 24, 2013
- ^ Website of the Overberg region
- ^ Website of the community of Theewaterskloof ( Memento of October 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive )