Photograph by Charles O'Rear/Corbis
Source www.travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/photos/s...
National Geographic
The Alamo Square Victorian Homes
Historically the peaceful Khoi/San in the Eastern Cape were displaced by marauding Central African Xhosa Settlers a few centuries ago. However the arrival of European Settlers in the Port Elizabeth area saw the development of Southern Africa’s first European architecture. This was not unique to one part of the world only but took place in just about every corner of the globe after the arrival of British Isle Settlers.
Developments were not limited to architecture and housing only but included a long unprintable list of benefits, some of which were roads, medicine, hospitals, colleges, universities, bridges, mechanical transportation, churches…..Much of this development has never really been appreciated by Africans and in many cases they have been plainly resentful despite enjoying Western European traditions.
Port Elizabeth boasts some of the world’s finest Victorian architecture - located opposite the Donkin and straddling the edge of the City. These homes were some of the first homes to be built at the turn of 1820 and are supposedly part of South Africa’s rich diverse history. San Francisco in the USA also boasts fine Victorian homes somewhat identical to Port Elizabeth’s own. There are of course many similarities between the San Francisco homes in Alamo Square and those of the Donkin namely, both are nearly as old, both are built on undulating land, both have the city skyline adjacent, and both have a park opposite. The city of San Francisco take exceptional pride and care in the preservation of their heritage sites with tours organised around these showpieces. Although sporting European Heritage the city and tourists are made up of many cultural groups but all enjoy the stunning beauty of Victorian architecture preserved for the sightseer.
Not so with Africans! A quick view of the Donkin and its heritage sights including the 1820 Settler homes will give you an immediate idea of what the African psyche is all about. African Renaissance seems to be a rejection of all things European regardless of the views held by the city’s residents, or whether the tourist would find a restored Donkin enjoyable, as is the case of the stunning but well preserved San Francisco hill homes.
It is simply shocking and absurd the way this early developmental history is allowed to erode, and then to blame other factors for the city’s demise, is simply not on.
Much of the money that would have preserved these cherished icons has instead been embezzled. The “fat cats” (see newspaper article in this Blog: “R100 Billion Goes Missing” in the Eastern Cape) supposedly promoting Port Elizabeth have missed the opportunity of huge tourist financial paybacks which would no doubt be forthcoming by maintaining the “Old City”. Perhaps, like so many other writers have indicated, there is a covert agenda to remove any history linked to European Settlers prior to 1994 which includes heritage sites, the names of people, etc………..” This can be described as the heart and soul, the fundamental intention of the so called “African Renaissance”, even though it has nothing better to offer.
SJA
