The Voortrekker Monument is 62 metres high, with a base of 40 metres by 40 metres. The building shares architectural resemblance with European monuments such the
Dôme des Invalides in France and the
Völkerschlachtdenkmal in
Germany, but also contains African influences. The two main points of interest inside the building are the Historical Frieze and the Cenotaph.
Historical Frieze The main entrance of the building leads into the domed Hall of Heroes. This massive space, flanked by four huge arched windows made from yellow Belgian glass, contains the unique
marble Historical
Frieze which is an intrinsic part of the design of the monument. It is the biggest marble frieze in the world. The frieze consists of 27 bas-relief panels depicting the history of the
Great Trek, but incorporating references to everyday life, work methods and religious beliefs of the Voortrekkers. The set of panels illustrates key historical scenes starting from the first voortrekkers of 1835, up to the signing of the
Sand River Convention in 1852. The centre piece depicts the
Piet Retief Delegation massacre. In the centre of the floor of the Hall of Heroes is a large circular opening through which the Cenotaph in the Cenotaph Hall can be viewed.
Cenotaph The
Cenotaph, situated in the centre of the Cenotaph Hall, is the central focus of the monument. In addition to being viewable from the Hall of Heroes it can also be seen from the dome at the top of the building, from where much of the interior of the monument can be viewed. Through an opening (oculus) in this dome a ray of sunlight shines at twelve o'clock on 16 December annually, falling onto the centre of the Cenotaph, striking the words 'Ons vir Jou, Suid-Afrika' (
Afrikaans for 'We for Thee, South Africa'), a line from '
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika'. The ray of light symbolises God's blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers. 16 December 1838 was the date of the
Battle of Blood River, commemorated in South Africa before 1994 as the
Day of the Vow. The Cenotaph Hall is decorated with the flags of the different
Voortrekker Republics and contains wall tapestries depicting the Voortrekkers as well as several display cases with artefacts from the Great Trek. Against the northern wall of the hall is a niche with a
lantern in which a flame has been kept burning ever since 1938. It was in that year that the
Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek, which started in
Cape Town and ended at Monument Hill where the Monument's foundation stone was laid, took place.
Other features Visitors to the monument enter through a black
wrought iron gate with an
assegai (spear) motif. After passing through the gate one finds oneself inside a big
laager consisting of 64
ox-wagons made out of decorative granite. This Germanisation of the Voortrekker Monument occurred after Moerdijk's initial design had caused a public outcry in the South African press for its resemblance to an
Egyptian temple. In Moerdijk's initial design, the monument consisted of a causeway linking two Egyptian
obelisks. Likewise Moerdijk's thousand years monument with Amarna sun symbol at its centre, became Afrikaner nationalists' centre show piece of their capital Pretoria.
Round floor opening influence of the architecture Looking from the sky dome downwards, a chevron pattern on the floor of the Hall of Heroes, radiates outwards like 32 sun rays. In Moerdijk's architecture, the natural
sun forms the 33rd ray through the floor opening. Moerdijk said the
chevron pattern on the floor depicts water, as does the double
chevron hieroglyph from the
civilisation of ancient
Egypt. Moerdijk stated that all roads on the terrain of building art lead back to ancient
Egypt. Moerdijk merges both methods, by using the sun in his simulation. The Vow of the Trekkers was commemorated on 16 December as the
Day of the Vow. On 16 December, the appearance of an illuminating
sun disc on the wording of the
Cenotaph stone, transform their meaning as per the
Philosophers Stone of the alchemists. Instead of man below making an earthly vow, the sun shifts the focus upwards to the trinitarian god of the Trekkers, as it is God who communicates through Moerdijk's sun architecture, making Himself a heavenly vow with the words: WE – as in GOD – FOR THEE SOUTH-AFRICA. Thus God in the trinitarian tradition of the Trekkers, speaks a vow within the sun disc illuminating the words on the Cenotaph. The Trekker belief that God was for
South Africa originates from the 9–16 December 1838 vow of Trekker leader
Andries Pretorius at Blood River, who at around the same time made military and political alliances with Christian
Zulus like prince
Mpande.
Egyptian origin Moerdijk was an outspoken supporter of ancient Egyptian architecture. Moerdijk referred to Africa's greatness as imparted by ancient Egyptian constructions at the inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument. a modern African-Egyptian Voortrekker Temple in South-Africa. Van Wouw and Frans Soff had earlier employed the Egyptian
obelisk, a petrified ray of the African
Aten, as central motif for the
National Women's Monument in
Bloemfontein,
South Africa, itself likewise inaugurated on the
Day of the Vow, 16 December 1913. Whilst finalising the design of the Voortrekker Monument in 1936, Moerdijk went on a research trip to
Egypt. There he visited the
Karnak Temple Complex at
Thebes, where an African
Renaissance had flourished under
Pharaoh Akhenaten,
Nefertiti's husband. The open air temples of
Akhenaten to the
Aten incorporated the Heliopolitan tradition of employing sun rays in architecture, as well as realistic wall reliefs or friezes. Moerdijk also visited the
Cairo Museum, where a copy of the
Great Hymn to the Aten is on display, some verses of which remind of
Psalm 104. Moerdijk's wife Sylva related that he was intimately acquainted with ancient Egyptian architecture, and was strongly influenced architecturally by his visit to Egypt.
Architectural purpose The architect,
Gerard Moerdijk, stated that the purpose of a building had to be clearly visible. The aspect of the sun at mid-noon in Africa, was during Nefertiti's time known as
Aten. In Egyptian
hieroglyphics, Aten was written as a sun dot enclosed by a circle. The Aten-hieroglyph is depicted in the Voortrekker Monument when the sun shines through an aperture in the top dome. Likewise, looking downwards from the top dome walkway, the round floor opening is seen to encircle the sun disc illumination. Moerdijk's message as implied by the wall frieze: by
exodus out of the British
Cape Colony, God created a new civilisation inland. In order to give thanks to this new creation of civilisation, Moerdijk, recalling
Abraham of old, outwardly designed the Voortrekker Monument as an
altar. ==Monument complex==