On a very hot day in Africa, we visited Church square.  Situated in the heart of the city and on the longest street in the world, Church street, the statue of Oom (Uncle) Paul Kruger, patriarch, president of the South African Republic (from 1883 until his flight into exile in 1900) and who is regarded as the "Father of Afrikanerdom", dominates the square.  It is a well known landmark and tourist attraction in the city.  Paul Kruger was known as "The old Lion of Transvaal" Transvaal was one of the republics and later provinces of South Africa.  It is now divided into 4 smaller provinces called North-West Province, Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng.  Pretoria is situated in Gauteng. 

On the northern side of the square, the imposing Palace of Justice building faces south onto Church Square. Today it is the headquarters of the Gauteng Provincial Division of the Supreme Court. The building is currently being extensively renovated.  The turreted Palace of Justice was the scene of one of the most famous of South Africa's major political trials, the Rivonia Trial, during which Nelson Mandela and a number of major heroes of the struggle for racial freedom was charged with treason and subsequently incarcerated.  

A musical highlight in the inner city of Pretoria is the regular flag hoisting ceremony by the National Ceremonial Guard and military band on Church Square every Wednesday morning at 10:00 am. The guard marches from scheduled locations and is always accompanied by one of the military bands. There are LOTS of pigeons on Church square - and I got some bread to share with them.  I don't know who were more scared at the start - me or them!  We made friends in the end - but boy was it hot that day!

All over South Africa you can find little curios shops like this one.  See if you can find me between all the African curiosities!

Here is a photo of me on one of the 4 statues/bronze figures around the main one of Paul Kruger.  In the background you can see a magician doing his tricks, and further back is the building of the Old Raadsaal (Old government building).  The Old Raadsaal is situated on the southern side of Church Square and was the seat of the ZAR (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek). The Raadsaal, and several other impressive government buildings, were made possible by the discovery of gold in 1886 and the resulting economic prosperity.