Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: The Castle of Good Hope and a story on Vocal #shortfiction #CapeTown #ThursdayDoors

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Welcome to Thursday Doors! This is a weekly challenge for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). If you like, you can add our badge to your post.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2023/02/16/worcester-union-station/

I must admit that it was the story challenge on Vocal that led this week’s Thursday Doors post. I have been thinking of posting about The Castle of Good Hope for a few weeks and I’d done a little research about it. I have visited this castle a few times, but I have never taken many pictures as it was before I was into photography and took pictures of everything.

My research revealed some interesting spirits that are believed to haunt the castle and one of them, Governor van Noodt who was a Governor of the Cape Colony while it was under the administration of the Dutch East India Company, caught my attention. I had already decided to write a story about the legend of the Governor and when the challenge to write a story from the perspective of wall was announced, I thought what better than to share this story from the perspective of the walls of the Castle of Good Hope.

You can read my story, The Governor Dies, here: https://vocal.media/fiction/the-governor-dies?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=

About The Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town

The Castle of Good Hope is known locally as “The Castle”. Its Dutch name is “Kasteel de Goede Hoop” and is a bastion fort built in the 17th century in Cape Town, South Africa. The Castle was originally located on the coastline of Table Bay but, following reclamation, the fort is now located a short distance inland within the Central Business District. The Castle was declared a historical monument (now a provincial heritage site) in 1936. Following restoration work in the 1980s, it is considered the best preserved example of a 17th century architectural structure in the entire world.

History

In 1652, the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) settled on the shores of Table Bay to establish a refreshment base for ships en route from Europe to East Asia and to maintain its monopoly over the Spice Trade. Built by the DEIC between 1666 and 1679, the Castle of Good Hope is the oldest existing colonial building in South Africa. It replaced an older fort called the Fort de Goede Hoop which was constructed from clay and timber and built by Jan van Riebeeck, the first Commander of the Cape.

During 1664, tensions between Britain and the Netherlands rose amid rumours of war. That same year, Commander Zacharias Wagenaer, successor to Jan van Riebeeck, was instructed by Commissioner Isbrand Goske to build a pentagonal fortress out of stone. The first stone was laid on 2 January 1666. Work was interrupted frequently because the DEIC was reluctant to spend money on the project.

On 26 April 1679, the five bastions were named after the main titles of William III of Orange-Nassau: Leerdam to the west, with Buuren, Katzenellenbogen, Nassau, and Oranje clockwise from it.

Information from : https://www.castleofgoodhope.co.za/

Front entrance to the castle. Picture credit: https://www.historyhit.com/locations/castle-of-good-hope/
Kat Balcony, Castle of Good Hope. Picture credit: https://www.castleofgoodhope.co.za/
This is a picture of my boys when they were tiddlers outside the door of the Military Museum at the Castle.

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

69 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: The Castle of Good Hope and a story on Vocal #shortfiction #CapeTown #ThursdayDoors”

  5. Great post, Robbie. I love castles and the only ones we have over here are replicas built for personal use. I love reading the history. That picture of your sons is cute. One’s in college now, right?

    Liked by 2 people

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  10. What an amazing place, Robbie! And your boys look so young there. They appear to have been really enjoying themselves.
    I visited your Vocal story, hearted, shared, and left you comment over there. Great story!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Hi Mae, it was great to visit this castle and I want to go there again. I’ve learned about a lot of new places to visit when we go on our road trip in December. Thank you for reading and sharing my story on Vocal. It is much appreciated.

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  22. What a fun post, Robbie: a chilling story, great photos, a bit of history, and that adorable picture of your boys when they were little. I enjoyed all of it, and you did a great job pulling all the elements together. Thanks for the entertaining post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Wow! A road trip sounds amazing and it will be lovely for you to return here! Now as a photographic buff I look forward to lots of photos – inside and outside the castle. Hope you and Terence are doing okay.

        Liked by 1 person

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