Chapter Five
The Castle was never intended as merely a defensive shell. It was designed to be entirely self-sufficient and survive a siege of unlimited duration.
All the institutions of power within a single set of walls
Within its walls were: a church, a bakery (known as Het Bakhuys), a forge, workshops, a bell tower, storerooms, a governor’s residence, common soldiers’ barracks, and a formal courtyard for civic ceremonies.
It was a miniature colonial city, complete with all the institutions of power: judicial, religious, commercial and military - all contained within a single set of walls.
The oldest functioning bell in South Africa
The bell tower, built in 1684, holds a 300-kilogram bronze bell cast in Amsterdam in 1697. This is the oldest functioning bell in South Africa, still rung today.
Where laws were proclaimed and sentences read
The De Kat Balcony, an elevated platform overlooking the courtyard, was where governors made official proclamations, announced new laws, and read out judicial sentences to the population gathered below.
The Dark Hole beneath the courtyard
Below the courtyard’s surface lay something far darker: the Donker Gat - the Dark Hole - a windowless dungeon used for high-profile prisoners and those awaiting execution.
In Cape winter, the Donker Gat flooded. Some of the people chained inside drowned.
Passive solar engineering, applied in the seventeenth century
Visitors to the Castle almost always ask about the Castle’s distinctive ochre-yellow paint.
The answer is practical rather than decorative. In the African summer, thick stone walls absorb enormous amounts of heat, turning the interior spaces into near-unbearable ovens.
The pale yellow paint reflects rather than absorbs sunlight, keeping the internal temperature much lower. It is passive solar engineering, applied in the seventeenth century. A reminder that the people who built this place were solving real-world problems in the same way we do today, just without the benefit of modern materials.
