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Pretoria

1855 in South AfricaAll pages needing cleanupCapitals in AfricaCities in South AfricaGauteng
Geographical naming disputesPopulated places established in 1855Populated places founded by AfrikanersPopulated places in the City of TshwanePretoriaUse South African English from May 2012
Montage of Pretoria
Montage of Pretoria

Pretoria is one of South Africa’s three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Cape Town is the legislative capital whereas Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and center of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Cullinan, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve. Some have proposed changing the official name from Pretoria to Tshwane, which has caused some public controversy. Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and South Africans sometimes call it the "Jacaranda City", because of the thousands of jacaranda trees planted along its streets and in its parks and gardens.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Pretoria (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Pretoria
Church Square, Pretoria Tshwane Ward 58

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -25.746111111111 ° E 28.188055555556 °
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Address

Church Square

Church Square
0126 Pretoria, Tshwane Ward 58
Gauteng, South Africa
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Montage of Pretoria
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Ou Raadsaal
Ou Raadsaal

The Ou Raadsaal (English: Old Council Hall) is a historic building in Pretoria, South Africa, located on the south side of Church Square. The Ou Raadsaal housed the Volksraad, the parliament of the South African Republic, from 1891 to 1902.The Ou Raadsaal was commissioned in the late 19th century by the South African Republic as the new seat of government in Pretoria, and was designed by Dutch architect Sytze Wierda in a Renaissance Revival style. The contract for construction was granted to John Johnstone Kirkness, a builder from the Orkney Islands with a prolific building career in the region, at a sum of £82,500. Construction began in February 1889 with the cornerstone laid by President Paul Kruger on 6 May that year, and the work was completed in December 1891. The Transvaal Museum was established in 1892 in the upper floor of Ou Raadsaal, but was soon moved to a separate location when the room was deemed too small for the collection. In 1902, the South African Republic was annexed by the United Kingdom after its defeat in the Second Boer War, abolishing the Volksraad, and the Ou Raadsaal became vacant. In 1999, the Ou Raadsaal was declared a Provincial Heritage Site and is protected in terms of Section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999), as it is over 60 years old. The building is also known in English as the Old Council Chamber or Old Government Building, and in Afrikaans as the Republikeinse Raadsaal.