Why is it called the Cape of Good Hope? The Cape of Good Hope - what is it famous for, who discovered it, where is it located, how to get there
To the Cape Good Hope It was first discovered by the Portuguese sea traveler Bartolomeu Dias. This significant event took place in 1488. He named it the Cape of Storms. But the Portuguese King João II did not like this name, and he ordered it to be renamed the Cape of Good Hope, hoping that the name would somehow appease the depths of the sea and the path to India would be open, which later happened.
The Cape of Good Hope is the symbol of South Africa. The cape is located on the Cape Peninsula. From Cape Town it takes 4 hours to get here. Time will fly by: beautiful savannas, walking ostriches, baboons, antelopes - all this looks extremely beautiful and organic.
Further the path goes through the reserve with the same name. The surface of the earth here is covered with dense low vegetation, so it is almost impossible to move on foot, only by car. The plants growing in the reserve cannot be seen anywhere else on the planet.
The fauna is also unique. There are monkeys, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, lions, and other predators here. And most importantly, along with these representatives of hot Africa, penguins roam here. You definitely won't see anything like this anywhere.
At the Cape of Good Hope you can sunbathe and swim on the beaches. Swimming season from September to May.
The main attraction of Good Hope is, of course, the 240-meter-high lighthouse, built in 1860. Today the lighthouse does not work, because it is often shrouded in clouds and ships still cannot see it. But it is equipped Observation deck. Leads to her cable car, you can also walk. There is also a restaurant and a souvenir shop here. Climbing onto the platform, you get the feeling of flying over two oceans. Here is the meeting place of the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic, in honor of which there is even a special aquarium in Cape Town. On one side the cape is washed by one thing, on the other by another. If you look closely, you will notice that the oceans are slightly different in color.
From the Cape of Good Hope you can take a boat to Seal Island. On this same small island, only four sq. km, there was once a prison, and now a museum telling about historical events countries.
Bartolomeo Dias, Portuguese navigator, was the first to round the cape in 1488. When he returned, he stopped at the southwestern tip of Africa and called it Cape of Storms. But King John II of Portugal renamed it, calling it the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco da Gama's ship rounded this cape in 1497 on its way to India. The brave voyages of Portuguese sailors made it possible to pave sea route around the cape, then regular voyages began, but due to deceptive coastline and dangerous fogs, these places have seen many shipwrecks.
In order to reduce the risk of possible disasters, it was decided to build a lighthouse on the cape. The first lighthouse was built in 1857 at 238 m above sea level, but it turned out to be so high that fog and clouds obscure it for more than 900 hours a year. After the Portuguese liner Lusitania sank in 1911, the lighthouse was moved to another location and built only 87 meters above sea level. Construction work began in 1913 and continued for almost six years due to the difficulty of delivering building materials here and unfavorable conditions. weather conditions. The lighthouse is the most powerful on the coast of South Africa. Visible at a distance of 63 km, it emits three flashes of light every 30 seconds with a power of 10 million candles.
The area around the lighthouse
On the shore around the lighthouse, today you can see the remains of 26 ships that failed to round the cape. One of the most famous shipwrecks was that of the USS Thomas T. Tucker, one of hundreds of ships built by the United States to help the Allies transport supplies during World War II. On its first voyage, the ship lost its course due to fog and collided with rocks.
The picturesque area around the lighthouse consists of green hills through which trails lead down to secluded beaches where elan antelopes, baboons, ostriches and bonteboks, brightly colored antelopes, are found. From this side of the cape, it’s hard to even imagine how many tragedies happened so close by.
Let's say right away that the Cape of Good Hope is not the southernmost point of Africa. But he is definitely the most famous in all of it south coast.
In the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries (from the end of the 15th century), ships, skirting the continent, changed course for the first time, turning east towards the Indian Ocean, right here. Therefore, people considered this cape to be the southernmost. Since then, science has stepped forward and clarified that in fact Cape Agulhas, located 150 km to the southeast, should be considered the southern point of the mainland. And the Cape of Good Hope bears the honorary title of the most southwestern point of the African continent.
Cape of Good Hope on the map
- Geographic coordinates -34.357890, 18.475453
- The distance from the capital of South Africa, Pretoria, is approximately 1340 km
- Distance to nearest international airport Cape Town about 45km
An interesting fact is that there are 3 capitals in South Africa. Pretoria is the official capital of the state. But the parliament is in Cape Town, and the supreme court is in Bloemfontein. And these cities are also called capitals. This is explained as follows: at the beginning of its formation, South Africa was a confederation, which included 3 territories - the Republic of South Africa (Pretoria), the possessions of Britain (Cape Town), and a country with the very exotic name of the Orange Free State (Bloemfontein). When South Africa was formed, it was decided to distribute authorities evenly across these cities.
Let us return to the Cape of Good Hope. Initially it was called the Cape of Storms. And for good reason.
The history of the name is as follows:
Europeans were looking for sea route to India. For this purpose, in the middle of the last millennium, an expedition set out from Portugal. And in 1488, Captain Bartolomeo Dias rounded this cape for the first time. But these guys didn’t manage to get to India, because the team got tired and rebelled. Dias was forced to turn back. On the way back, a storm raged in the area of the cape. The ship and its crew were pretty battered. The sailor did not invent an original name, calling the rocky ledge simply Cape of Storms. A little later, King Juan II of Portugal decided to rename it the Cape of Good Hope, rightly believing that such a name would not only not scare off other sailors, but would also give them hope for a quick completion of the journey.
The king's initiative paid off. Already in 1497, Vasco Da Gama paved the way from the Old World to India. The expedition was successful, and since then the name Cape of Good Hope has been firmly attached to this rocky outcrop. Many sailors began to use this route.
Yes, of course, the souls of the sailors were filled with hope when approaching this cape, because more than half of the journey was behind them. Joy spread across the faces of the team. But no matter how amazing and bewitching the Cape of Good Hope attracts attention, it is quite dangerous for sailors. Storms and storms are quite normal for these places. To this day, about three dozen sunken ships can be seen in the surrounding waters.
To facilitate navigation, a lighthouse 238 meters high above sea level was built in 1857. But it turned out to be too high, and sometimes clouds and fog completely covered it.
Old lighthouse of the Cape of Good Hope After another shipwreck in 1911, a decision was made to move the lighthouse. From 1913 to 1919, the lighthouse was built in a different place and not so high. The new lighthouse rises only 87 meters above sea level. But it can be seen from a distance of more than 60 km. This is the most powerful beacon along the entire southern coast of Africa. Since then, the sea route in the area of the cape has become much safer.
New Cape of Good Hope Lighthouse There is an interesting misunderstanding. In fact, ships, passing from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, round Cape Point, located a little further. But it is the Cape of Good Hope that enjoys worldwide fame.
Behind Cape Point is a cozy Falsbay Bay, similar to Hawaiian Hanauma Bay. There is a beautiful beach washed by the warm current of the Indian Ocean.
Excellent beaches on the border of two oceans, stunning views of the surrounding area, and the diversity of flora and fauna in the Cape of Good Hope area attract a huge number of tourists.
Cape of Good Hope in photographs
The Cape of Good Hope is the most extreme point southwestern Africa. It is located on the Cape Peninsula and is washed on two opposite sides by the waters of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Many people say that in calm weather you can see how the two parts of the body of water differ in color.
In ancient times, due to big waves and constant winds, the rocky cliff was called the Cape of Storms; later King Juan II renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. He truly was the hope of the Portuguese navigators who were heading to India. Today this is reminded by the largest lighthouse in South Africa (240 m above sea level), built in 1860.
In the vicinity of the rocky coast there is a reserve of the same name. Due to the vegetation, it is almost impossible to get there by car.
There are beaches on the cape where you can relax and sunbathe.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 06.04.2016 08:52
Cape of Good Hope(Cape of Good Hope) is famous for for a long time was considered the southernmost point of Africa. Then they calculated that the southernmost point of the continent is Cape Agulhas, located one and a half hundred miles to the southeast from the Cape of Good Hope.
But no one knows Cape Agulhas, and the Cape of Good Hope is included in all school geography textbooks; it is associated with the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, this is what hundreds of thousands of tourists and travelers from all over the world strive to see.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 06.04.2016 08:56
It is known that the first European to see this African Cape of Good Hope was in 1488 Bartolomeo Dias, the famous Portuguese commander of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries.
The expedition of Bartolomeo Dias was given the task of finding a sea route to India around Africa. Dias did not reach India, but became the first European to circumnavigate Africa from the south. Indirectly, he was helped in this by the terrible storms that battered his ships for several days. When the storms subsided, the disorientated Dias headed north and on February 3, 1488 ran into the coast, which “turned” to the northeast.
And so the way was opened to Indian Ocean. Dias was forced to give in to the demands of the rebellious team and did not go further. On the way back, he saw this cape protruding into the sea, which he called the Cape of Storms, because severe storms were constantly raging in this place.
Dias announced this “working” name upon his return to Portugal in his report to King João II. But His Majesty was wise and far-sighted. He decided that it was not good to leave such a harsh name for the turning point, beyond which a direct sea route to India opened. And he suggested calling this place the Cape of Good Hope. Or in Portuguese Cabo de Boa Esperanca.
The cape lived up to its name. In 1497, Vasco da Gama's expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope and finally reached the treasured shores of India!
Sasha Mitrakhovich 06.04.2016 09:01
Today it is the territory of the Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. Nearest Big city Cape Town. The Cape of Good Hope itself is national pride and a tourist attraction in South Africa. It fits organically into national park or a reserve with the same name “Cape of Good Hope” or in English “Cape of Good Hope”.
As already mentioned, the Cape of Good Hope is not only not the southernmost, but also not the most southwestern point of Africa. The most southwestern point is the completely inconspicuous ledge of Cape Point, located fifty meters to the north. And it is on it that a lighthouse with the name “Cape of Good Hope” is installed. And an observation deck from where all tourists take their memorable photos.
And at the Cape of Good Hope there is a shield with the name and exact coordinates and the inscription “the most southwestern point of Africa.”
Location of the Cape of Good Hope on the World Map:
Sasha Mitrakhovich 06.04.2016 09:04
You can get to the Cape of Good Hope, located on the Cape Peninsula, from Cape Town. The journey by car will take about four hours. Time will pass unnoticed, because along the way you will encounter a very beautiful area: a savannah where ostriches, antelopes, baboons and other animals roam, mountains, a nature reserve.
The Cape of Good Hope is the most southwestern point of Africa. It is impossible to make a mistake, since this fact is confirmed by both scientists and an inscription with exact coordinates installed on the site in front of the cape. But the Cape Peninsula at this point reaches its most southern point and, going north, ends at Cape Point.
Excursions to the Cape of Good Hope
Typically, excursions to the Cape of Good Hope include a visit to the reserve, as well as the shore with a penguin haven. We'll tell you about a few more places that are worth seeing. On the coast of False Bay, or “False Bay,” a winding road is laid through the mountains. Along it you can get to the town of Simon's Town, where the British Royal Navy was previously based.
The coast of the Cape of Good Hope itself has its own characteristics. For example, on the western side the climate is milder, there are beaches, sandy shores, atmosphere of peace and tranquility. In the east it is warmer, but strong winds blow, which make it difficult to swim and enjoy the scenery. On this part of the coast, not everyone takes the risk of swimming; tourists prefer to just sit on the shore and breathe the ocean air.
The island of fur seals is of great interest to travelers. Its area of only 4 square kilometers is small for an island, and it has a turbulent history dating back to the 17th century. The fact is that for three centuries there was a prison here, military base and a hospital. And it was on this island that freedom fighter and future South African President Nelson Mandela served his sentence. In 1999, the island became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A museum has opened here, telling about the history of the country. Tourists can visit the prison yard and cells.
You can get to the island by ferry, which leaves Waterfront every day until 15:00. On average, the excursion lasts 3.5-4 hours.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 06.04.2016 09:25
The Cape of Good Hope - Africa's most famous cape - is located in Republic of South Africa, on the Cape Peninsula.
It was discovered in 1488 by the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias (circa 1450-1500). The discoverer called this place the Cape of Storms: an inopportune storm almost sank all three of Dias' ships. Presumably, the Portuguese king João II the Perfect (1455-1495) renamed it to the Cape of Good Hope: the king was incredibly glad that Portugal had found a way to India and would now compete with the Arab merchants, who for many centuries had a monopoly on trade with this a fabulously rich region.
Exhausted long journey and frequent skirmishes with the natives, the crew of Dias' ships, under the threat of mutiny, forced the captain to head home to the shores of Portugal. The Portuguese expedition of 1497-1499, which rounded the Cape of Good Hope, successfully sailed to India and returned to Lisbon to report success, was commanded by Vasco da Gama (circa 1460-1524), and his tasks did not include the development of South Africa.
This was done by the Dutch in 1652, the first to settle in these places. It turned out that in the vicinity of the cape, people of the so-called capoid small race, related to the Bushmen, have been living for a long time, called by the Dutch Hottentots (from the word “stutterer”) because of the special clicking sounds in speech (later the name “Hottentots” acquired a sharply negative connotation in Africa Nowadays it is considered an insult; it was replaced by the self-name “Khoi-Koin” of the Nama people, part of the Hottentot group).
The Dutch founded the most important port city of its time (English: “city on the cape”). Cape Town has long been the most important and only transit point in southern Africa on the way from Rotterdam to India and back; a place where the sick were treated, and a center for supplying the trading ships of the Dutch East India Company with fresh water and food.
At first, the natives welcomed the guests cordially, but when, in 1657, the Europeans began to push them out native land and into slavery, bloodshed and racial conflicts began. The “local atheists” put up stubborn resistance.
In 1795, Great Britain took southern Africa from Holland, and the territory became known as the colonial province of the Cape of Good Hope. The descendants of the first colonists - the Boers (in Dutch "peasants") were dissatisfied with the new order, began to move to the north of the continent ("Great Trek") and settled there, overcoming the resistance of the Zulu. The British showed interest in the Boer republics when deposits of diamonds and then gold were discovered there. At the end of the 19th century. after two persistent Anglo-Boer Wars (1899-1902), the British completely captured the entire territory of South Africa. In 1910, four British colonies - Natal, Transvaal, Orange Free State and Cape Province - united to form the Union of South Africa.
After a long period of colonial dependence, the free state of South Africa was created in 1961.
The Cape of Good Hope is an important part of the Table Mountain National Park, called the Cape of Good Hope National Park, with an area of more than 7 thousand hectares. No less famous than unique geographical position, the Cape of Good Hope was brought by its distinctive flora and fauna.
The Cape Peninsula alone is home to several thousand plant species and at least 250 bird species. Birds are attracted here by the seeds of many species of evergreen hard-leaved shrubs ( common name"fynbos" in Afrikaans) growing in South Africa.
The most recognizable birds of the Cape of Good Hope are the African penguin, and the scientific name of this bird is the spectacled or black-footed penguin. Sometimes it is called “donkey” - for its characteristic cry. The penguin reaches 65-70 cm in height, its weight is from 3 to 5 kg. He has practically no enemies here, except for feral cats and seagulls. People have long been accustomed to these cute birds and have come to terms with the need to drive them out from under cars with a stick, where penguins climb in search of shade. In addition, penguins are popular with tourists, and tourism brings significant income to the budget of the Western Cape. When there are oil leaks from giant supertankers rounding the cape, the penguins find themselves covered in oil, and then people come to their aid: the dirty public favorites are washed with special means by teams of volunteers from all over Cape Town.
The baboon colony is no less famous: these primates, called chacma in Africa, settled here a million years ago. Baboons have adapted perfectly to life on the ocean shore, even switching from a plant diet to shellfish and shark eggs washed ashore. Baboons collect and eat prey during high tides.
Local ostrich farms are also more of a tourism business than an agricultural sector: tourists are charged decent money for an excursion, about $50.
Among surfers, the Cape of Good Hope is famous for its luxurious surf: lovers of riding wide waves come here from all over the world. Sometimes there are so many surfers that there is literally no crowd around the cape.
The waters off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope are filled not only with surfers, but also with whales that migrate from all over the Southern Hemisphere towards the Cape Coast to give birth there. Whale season is from June to October, and then the entire coast of the southern - southwestern tip of Africa turns into large area to watch the dances of the largest marine mammals.
From the cape you can also see Robben Island with its colony of fur seals. The island is small - only 4 km 2, but it is famous not only for seals, but also for its history. Since the 17th century there was a military base, a hospital and a prison. It was here that the fighter for the rights of the black population and the future president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (born in 1918), was imprisoned. Ace 1999 Robben Island with fur seal colony listed World Heritage UNESCO and a museum is opened on it.
general information
Location: the extreme southwestern point of Africa.Date of discovery: 1488 (Portuguese expedition of Bartolomeu Dias).
Nearest Big City:
Cape Town, 3,497,097 people (2007).Languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Swazi.
Ethnic composition (Cape Town): mulattoes (so-called “brown people”) - 48.1%, Africans - 31%, whites - 18.8%, Asians and others - 2.1% (2001).
Religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism.
Currency unit: South African rand
Airport: Cape Town International Airport.
Numbers
Area: 77.5 km 2 (Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve).The most high point: Table Mountain (Cape Town, 1087 m).
Height of coastal cliffs: about 200 m.
Climate and weather
Subtropical marine(Mediterranean), constantly blowing strong wind(in summer - from the southeast, in winter - from the northwest).Average temperature in July:+10°С.
Average January temperature:+27°С.
Average annual precipitation: 540 mm (mainly from May to August).
Relative humidity: 75-80%.
Attractions
■ national reserve"Cape of Good Hope" - part national park Table Mountain (“Table Mountain”);■ Colony of spectacled (black-footed) penguins; Chacma bear baboon colony;
■ Cape Agulhas (identifying mark of the southern tip of Africa) and Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope lighthouse and lookout (1857/60); False Bay; surfers' beaches; Robben Island (fur seals).
■ South African astronomical observatory(second half of the 20th century);
■ City of Cape Town: Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Two Oceans Aquarium - the largest aquarium in the Southern Hemisphere, Botanical Garden Kirstenbosch (founded in 1913, one of the seven best botanical gardens in the world), Castle of Good Hope (second half of the 17th century, the oldest building in South Africa), South African National Gallery.
Curious facts
■ Bartolomeu Dias, the discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, subsequently took part in the discovery of Brazil, but while sailing off the coast of Africa, his ship disappeared without a trace in the ocean, and the fate of the navigator remained unknown.
■ At the beginning of the 20th century. The number of spectacled penguins at the Cape of Good Hope was more than a million individuals. In the past, the total population of this species has been steadily declining: 1956 - 145 thousand, 1972 - 70 thousand - due to the uncontrolled use of penguin eggs for food. As a result of protective measures, the number of African penguins has now reached 185 thousand individuals. In order for African penguins to quietly breed their offspring, and to protect eggs from seagulls, special clay oval houses are equipped for penguins in their nesting areas.
■ Fynbos is a species of approximately 9,000 evergreen stiff-leaved shrub, i.e. it is the general name for a local vegetation type (in Afrikaans). Of these, 6,200 are endemic. There are about 2,200 plant species on the Cape Peninsula - more than in Great Britain or Holland, where about one and a half thousand species grow. Although fynbos occupies about 0.5% of Africa's land area, it accounts for about 20% of the species diversity of the African continent's flora.
■ Currently, about 400 baboon individuals live at the Cape of Good Hope. This species of primate, despite enhanced protection, is in danger of extinction. The reason is the narrowing of the habitat, genetic isolation and conflicts with people, whose houses the baboons visit in search of food.
■ Local legend says that it is here, on the Cape of Good Hope, that you can most often see the “Flying Dutchman” - a mysterious ship whose captain in 1680 sold his soul to the devil for a chance to escape the storm. They say that this ship is destined to be seen by someone who will soon experience misfortune. The funicular that takes you up to the lighthouse is also called the Flying Dutchman.
