Durbanville, Cape Town - Conference Venues Durbanville Cape Town

Durbanville - Cape Town Suburb

Cape Town Conferences > Cape Town > Durbanville

Conference Venues in Durbanville, Cape Town

Pembi Durbanville Conference Centre Cape Country Cottage Clara Anna Fontein Lodge Clouds Guest House

Durbanville Conference Centre Kolping Guest House Le Petit Chateau Ruslamere

Durbanville is a rural residential suburb on the northen outskirts of Cape Town and is surrounded by farms producing wine and wheat. Durbanville is one of the fastest growing towns in South Africa boasting several shopping centres, restaurants, pubs, guest houses and B and B's to suit your needs. Just a few minutes drive will take you to one of the largest, modern, world class shopping and entertainment centres, the Tygervalley Centre and the exciting newly developed Tygervalley Waterfront.

With it's upmarket tree-lined residential areas, Durbanville remains a much sought after neighbourhood in which to put down roots as has been proven by the many overseas visitors who have come to Durbanville as visitors and returned as residents. The suburb is nestled against the Tygerberg and is bathed in the warm Cape sunshine during the day, yet is prone to misty nights. The fertile soil of the rolling hills on which Durbanville is built, the warm summer days and cooler nights all contribute to making this area a prime location for wine production.

Places to see in Durbanville include: Rust-en-Vrede (a historic building); Onze Molen (a restored mill); Kings Court (a 1905 residential building and monument); All Saints Church; Dutch Reform Church and the Synagogue.

Durbanville is also well known for its wine route. The wine farms on this route include Altydgedacht, Bloemendal, De Grendel, D'Aria, Diemersdal, Durbanville Hills, Hillcrest, Nitida and Meerendal. The soil has a high clay content and is particularly suited to Sauvignon Blanc. One of the most modern cellars is Durbanville Hills, situated in an enviable, elevated position with stunning vistas over the Atlantic Ocean, Robben Island and Table Mountain. The cellar uses the most advanced technology that is available internationally, and has already earned a reputation as a leading wine estate in the few years since it was established.

The Durbanville horse track is a left-handed course with a circumference of about 2 200 meters. The well drained soil makes the track an ideal winter racing venue.

Next to the race course is a six-hectare reserve where critically endangered Swartland Shale Renosterveld and Cape Flats Sand Fynbos meet. It became a nature reserve in 1966 after local residents found a rare plant, Aristea lugens, growing there. There are about 130 plant species, three endemic to Cape Town and 10 threatened with extinction.

The Durbanville Rose Garden is a 3.5 hectare garden that includes 500 varietals and 4 500 rose bushes.

History of Durbanville
Durbanville was founded in the early 19th century around a fresh water spring and was primarily a watering station for travellers between Cape Town and the interior. Durbanville was origanally known as Pampoenkraal (from the Afrikaans words pampoen meaning pumpkin, and kraal meaning corral - an enclosure for livestock).

In 1825 a group of local farmers requested permission from Lord Charles Somerset (govener of the Cape Colony at that time) to build their own church. The Dutch Reformed Church was commended in 1825 and inaugurated a year later on 6 August 1826. A small village grew between the church and the outspan (overnight stop). During 1836 the inhabitants of Pampoenkraal petitioned the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Benjamin d'Urban, for permission to rename the village D'Urban in his honour. Permission was duly granted and the new name persisted until 1886 when it was renamed to Durbanville in order to avoid confusion with Durban - a major port city in the east of South Africa.

Durbanville had its own court house, jail and magistrate from the 1870's and became a Magisterial District of Bellville. The court house complex still exists in altered form within the Rust-en-Vrede complex, originally erected in 1850. A village management board was established in 1897 and a municipality in 1901. The first mayor elected was John King.

The village grew rapidly after the turn of 19th century and a local wagon industry developed. The King Brothers Wagon Works' used to be South Africa's biggest wagon works. At the turn of the century, it employed more than 200 men, which just about accounted for the entire village.

Cape Town Suburbs
Bantry Bay, Bellville, Bloubergrant, Bloubergstrand, Brackenfell, Camps Bay, Cape Town Central/City Bowl, Claremont, Constantia, Durbanville, Fish Hoek, Fresnaye, Gordon's Bay, Green Point, Hout Bay, Kenilworth, Lakeside, Melkbosstrand, Milnerton, Muizenberg, Newlands, Noordhoek, Observatory, Parow, Pinelands, Rondebosch, Sea Point, Simon's Town, Sir Lowry's Pass, Somerset West, Strand, Table View, Tokai, Tygerberg.

Map of Durbanville