The Union Buildings by Bwana_Brown
The Union Buildings in Pretoria share duties with Cape Town as the seat of the South African government, with sittings in the higher altitude Pretoria taking place during the winter months when temperatures are more moderate. Built of light sandstone (1910-1913), the Union Buildings were named for the South African Union which was formed by amalgamation of the original states of South Africa. It is 275 m in length and has two curving wings spreading out from the central building. This was supposed to signify the joining together of the Boer and English populations (or some could say the attack formation used by the Zulu tribes of old!).The buildings are very pleasing to the eye, and are located on Meintjies Kop, a hill overlooking the valley in which Pretoria itself is nestled. There is also a 9000-seat amphitheatre and beautiful grounds and walkways to enjoy. We had a great time just wandering around looking at the architecture and admiring the landscaping on a not very busy Sunday morning! Looking down onto Pretoria, it was fantastic to see the lilac-coloured canopy of Jacaranda trees in full bloom.
Across the valley, on the ridge along the other side, we could see the huge Voortrekker Monument (Tip to follow). The photo shows one of the walkway bridges over a small pond featuring birds and various water lilies.