The Riebeek Valley in twelve dates, from 1661 to today
A short timeline of the valley: an expedition, a wine farm, a hotel, two prime ministers, a painful removal and a wine revival.
History in the Riebeek Valley is never far away. It is in the names on the farm gates, the gable of the old church and the veranda of the hotel on the square. Here is the valley's story in twelve dates, as a starting point for your own walks.
1661. On 3 February a Dutch expedition led by Pieter Cruythoff reached the valley. According to local tradition the party named the mountain, and later the village, after Jan van Riebeeck, the first commander at the Cape.
1704. Kloovenburg, at the entrance to the valley, was granted as a farm. It is still farmed today, for wine and olives.
1862. The Royal Hotel was built on what would become the village square. It is known as the oldest licensed hotel in the Western Cape.
1863. The Dutch Reformed congregation of Riebeek Kasteel was founded; it celebrated its 125th year in 1988. Its earlier church building now houses the Riebeek Valley Museum.
1870 and 1874. Jan Smuts was born on 24 May 1870 at Bovenplaats near Riebeek West, and Daniel Malan was born in Riebeek West in 1874. Both later became prime ministers, and both were guests at the Royal Hotel. In 1872 the Malan family took over Allesverloren, still in the family today.
The 1960s. Under apartheid laws the residents of Oukloof, a neighbourhood of Riebeek Kasteel, were forcibly removed to Esterhof. The museum tells this part of the story with care.
1986. The Swartland Wine & Olive Route was founded, at a time when the region was known mostly for bulk and fortified wine.
2009. Readers of the Afrikaans newspaper Rapport chose Riebeek Kasteel as one of the three most beautiful towns in the Western Cape, alongside Stellenbosch and Clanwilliam.
2026. The wine route turned forty, a vineyard on the Kasteelberg became the world's first certified Sémillon Gris vineyard, and Solo Studios, the valley's open-studio art weekend, reached its tenth edition.
Walk from the Royal Hotel to the museum and the church, and you will pass most of these dates in about ten minutes.
