Information on Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa

Conference Venues South Africa brings you information on Mossel Bay situated in the Western Cape Province of South Africa including information on history, location, geography, attractions.

Mossel Bay (Mosselbaai) is a town with 150 000 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the southern coast of South Africa, east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Knysna on the Indian Ocean coast and is part of the Garden Route.

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Mossel Bay History

Nomadic Khoi-San people were the first inhabitants of the Mossel Bay area. A cave in which there have been found remains of KhoiSan settlement is now a national monument and the starting point of a walking trail to the nearby town of Dana Bay ("Danabaai" in Afrikaans).

The first contact between Southern Africans and Europeans took place on Santos (also called "Madiba" after ex-president Nelson Mandela) Beach in Mossel Bay in 1488 between Diaz and the Khoi-San. The meeting was peaceful and both sides were willing to trade. Diaz erected a cross, and called the bay Augauda de São Bras, as they landed on the festival day of St. Blaize.

The first trading between inhabitants of Europe and Southern African was in 1497 between Vasco da Gama and the local Khoi-San tribe. In the following years, Portuguese sailors would use the Bay as a halfway station where the KhoiSan offered them food. A small stream was used for fresh water (it now only flows beneath the surface).

The Diaz Complex marks the spot of the historical landing of Diaz. The 500 year old Post Office Tree, a national monument, can still be seen at the site, now harbouring a post box shaped as a shoe. Also located in the complex are the remnants of the Spring, the Maritime Museum (which houses a duplicate of the caraval on which Diaz arrived, which arrived in Mossel Bay in 1987, a gift from the Government of Portugal. Another highlight a map of Mossel Bay produced by early Dutch sailor, Cornelius de Houtman in 1595. The Museum is housed in the old Saw Mill Building), the Granary (now the entrance to the complex which boasts an interesting exhibition on the cultural life of coloured communities in Mossel Bay during apartheid, inter alia), the Shirley Building (where the shell museum and small aquarium is located - it also hosts a 476 kg Great White Shark, caught of the coast of nearby Hartenbos) and Munroshoek (the oldest houses in town). Recently, the building in which a Cultural History Museum was housed for many years was sold and became a private arts centre.

The first settlers were granted land in Mossel Bay in 1729, 77 years after the Dutch colonised the area nowadays Cape Town.

Towns and Suburbs of the Western Cape province of South Africa

Arniston , Albertina , Bantry Bay , Bellville , Barrydale , Beaufort West , Bloubergrant , Bloubergstrand , Brackenfell , Caledon , Ceres , Camps Bay , Cape Town , Clanwilliam , Claremont , Constantia , Constantia Park , Darling, De Rust , Durbanville , Fish Hoek , Franschhoek , Fresnaye , Gordon's Bay , Gansbaai , George , Grabouw , Green Point , Greyton , Hout Bay , Hermanus , Kenilworth , Kleinmond , Knysna , Malgas , McGregor , Melkbosstrand , Milnerton , Morreesburg , Muizenberg , Montagu , Mossel Bay , Newlands , Noordhoek , Observatory , Oudtshoorn , Paternoster, Lakeside , Langebaan , Paarl , Parow , Pinelands , Plettenberg Bay , Prince Albert , Pringle Bay , Rawsonville , Robertson , Riebeeck West , Rondebosch , Stellenbosch , Somerset West , Simon's Town , Saldanha , Sea Point , Sir Lowry's Pass , Stanford , St Helena Bay , Strand , Swellendam , Table View , Tulbagh , Uniondale, Vermont , Vredendal , Wellington , Wilderness , Worcester , Worcester , Yzerfontein