Commandant-General Marthinus Wessel Pretorius had bought a large amount of land in the area, which was taken over by the government as they foresaw the development of a large centre. The town proper began to take shape in 1856 as a result of Andries du Toit, a presidential advisor, exchanging of one of his Basutho ponies for the entire area known, today, as Arcadia. He spent the next two years surveying his property with pegs and chains. Stephanus Meintjies developed the area and was honoured by having a nearby hillock named Meinjieskop. This resulted in Pretoria extending from Potgieter Street in the west to Prinsloo Street in the east and from Boom Street in the North to Scheiding Street in the South.

The initial full designation of the city was Pretoria Philadelphia (‘the brotherhood of Pretoria’) and it was not named after M.W. Pretorius, but after his brother Andries, victor of the Battle of Blood River. When Marthinus Pretorius failed to unite the Transvaal and the Orange Free State during his presidency he resigned and was replaced by Reverend Thomas Francois Burgers in 1870.

Pretoria was declared the official capital of the independent Voortrekker republic of the Transvaal in 1860. Not long after its establishment it became known as the ‘city of roses’ because its climate encouraged the growth of rambler roses, which covered gardens and hedges all around the city. In 1888 J.D. Cilliers, a resident ad avid gardener, imported Jacaranda trees from Rio de Janeiro to plant in his Myrtle Grove garden. These trees flourished and as a result the city is now aptly known as the ‘Jacaranda City’, with about 50 000 Jacarandas lining its streets.

The British annexed the Transvaal in April 1877, which resulted in a steady flow of immigrants and migrants. During the Transvaal War of Independence the British withdrew and Paul Kruger took over. After the Anglo-Boer War Pretoria was named the capital of the new British colony and when the Union of South Africa was created in 1910 it became the administrative capital.

Church Square has always been the hub of Pretoria, although it was initially called Market Square. This was where the first church, a mud-walled building, was built. It burnt down in 1882 and was replaced by a much grander structure. Open markets were regularly held in the Square and Albert Broderick, an Englishman christened Albertus Broodryk, by his Afrikaans friends and customers established himself as shopkeeper. He also ran the community’s first bar, the ‘Hole-in-the-Wall’.

When Mr. Sammy Marks, a well-known Jewish industrialist and close friend of President Paul Kruger, was allowed to build the town’s first synagogue he expressed his pleasure by commissioning the sculptor Anton van Wouw to produce a statue of the president. A plinth was erected in Church Square to receive the bronze figure that had been cast in Rome. Unfortunately the South African War broke out and the statue was held up in the then Lorenzo Marques. This resulted in the statue only being erected in 1854. after several changes of site. Church Square was redesigned as a tramway in 1910, much to the disappointment of many of Pretoria’s residents who had tried to convince the civic authorities to create a gracious area of fountains, gardens and Continental-style paving in order to showcase Pretoria as a city.

During the rule of the old dispensation Pretoria was the Administrative capital of South Africa. The modern city has many features that retain a position of importance in, especially, the white history of the country. These include the Union Buildings, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, which still houses government establishments; the old Raadsaal (council chamber) of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek on Church Square and the house where President Paul Kruger lived until his exile in 1900.

Outside the city towers the Voortrekker Monument and the two massive forts, Klapperkop and Schanskop, built by the Boers to protect their capital against the British. Here you can also find the large and imposing buildings of the University of South Africa.

Pretoria also has an abundance of museums including the Voortrekker Memorial Museum, Kruger House, the Transvaal Museum, Fort Klapperkop Military Museum, the National Cultural History and Open Air Museum, the South African Museum of Science and Technology, the Police Museum, the William Prinsloo Agricultural Museum and the Museum of Geological Survey. Another fine example of Pretoria’s early architecture is Melrose House, where the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging was signed on 31 May 1902. This, too, serves as a museum. The city also has several beautiful parks like Burgers Park, Jan Cilliers Park and Springbok Park.

Other points of interest include the city’s five nature reserves, the National Zoological Gardens, the University of Pretoria, which was established in 1908, the Onderstepoort veterinary research institute and South Africa’s largest research organization, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Pretoria also has an advanced industrial complex, originally based in Iscor, which includes engineering, food processing and diamond mining.