"Pretoria - The Jacaranda City" a Pretoria Travel Page by MikeAtSea

The beginning of Pretoria took only place at the end of the 19th century when the Great Treck reached the region around the Apies River. Dutch settlers left the Cape Province after it was evident that the British would remain in charge of the Cape Colony to explore the hinterland of South Africa and hence starting the Great Treck North and Eastwards. The British granted independence to the ZAR, the South African Republic north of the Vaal River and to the Freestate between the Orange and Vaal Rivers.
In 1853 two farms on the Apies River bank were bought and the capital of the South African Republic was started.
In the beginning Pretoria was only a small frontier town that at the same time was the capital of the mighty South African Republic, however the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in the late 1880’s started a massive migration to the interior of what today is called the Gauteng Province. The small community of farmers over night controlled the riches real estate on earth.
But peace was short lived since in 1899 the two Boer Republics were again at war with the British and Pretoria was lost to British Forces in June 1900.
When the South African Union was declared in 1906 the Transvaal regained some autonomy within the boundaries of the British Empire.
With the gain of power to the National Party in 1948 apartheid was cemented into South African society and South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961. Pretoria became one of the two capitals of the country sharing the power with Cape Town.
Democracy finally also reached South Africa and here in Pretoria Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first democratic elected President of South Africa when a large celebration was held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Today Pretoria is a charming city which comes to bloom in spring when thousands of Jacaranda Trees turn the city into a violet shine.
Other attractions besides the Union Buildings are the Vortrekker Monument and Church Square.