In early summer the city basks in the mauve haze of the Jacaranda trees – some 70 000 planted along the pavements. There are numerous public parks and gardens, including the National Botanical Gardens, and Fountains Valley Nature Reserve, and a drive through the leafy residential suburbs reveals many a magnificent private garden.

City Centre
The heart of the city is the historic Church Square, where one finds some of the oldest buildings in Pretoria such as the Raadsaal on the South side which housed the parliament of the 19th century Transvaal Republic, and the imposing Palace of Justice on the north side, designed by Sytze Wierde. In the centre where the original churh once stood, stands the statue of Paul Kruger sculpted by Anton von Wouw. Church Square is the meeting point of the two main axes of Pretoria, Church Street – reputedly the longest straight street in a city in the southern hemisphere – and Paul Kruger Street. Along Paul Kruger Street to the South is the Transvaal Museum with a well known natural history display entitled “Genesis 1 & 2”. Across the road, the statues of Martinus Wessel Pretorius and his father, Andries, after whom the city was named, are to be seen in front of the Pretoria City Hall. The Railway Station, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, dominates the southern end of the street.

Immediately East of Church Square the street has been turned into a pedestrian mall which leads past such gems as the Tudor Buildings and Burlington Arcade, to the State Theatre, opposite the restored Lewis and Marx Building.

A few blocks North of Church Square lies Marabastad, named after an early Pedi chief, with its fascinating cultural mixture of “muti” shops of “sangomas” (traditional healers), cinemas, mosques and the typical South Indian style Hindu Mariammen Temple. A little to the East of Marabastad are the National Zoological Gardens, considered to be amongst the top 10 in the world.

Leaving the city centre one passes Burgers Park, one of the original public parks, and Melrose House, built in 1886 in typical Victorian Colonial Style and where the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, bringing to an end the Anglo Boer War of 1899 – 1902.

Sunnyside, Arcadia and Hatfield
Sunnyside has become one of the more densely populated suburbs, with many apartment buildings. Arcadia is the embassy area, many of them housed in stately villas of a time gone by. The Pretoria Art Museum is known for its fine collection of South African works. The suburb - and indeed the town – is dominated by the magnificent Union Buildings, chef d’oeuvre of Sir Herbert Baker. Built in celebration of the unification of South Africa in 1910, the building houses the offices of the State President and some government ministers. The formal gardens are a delight and were also designed by Baker.

Hatfield boasts many restaurants and sidewalk cafés all catering to the various tastes of the students from the University of Pretoria.

Brooklyn, Groenkloof and Waterkloof
These are the more affluent suburbs of Pretoria and homes on the southern ridge have superb views over the city, especially stunning when all the Jacarandas are in flower.

The Voortrekker Monument dominates the southern approaches to the city. Designed by Gerhard Moerdyk, inside there is a series of marble bas relief sculptures depicting the journey to the interior of the white pioneers. In the lower hall is a series of petit point tapestries depicting the same story told from the women’s perspective.

Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and Soshanguve.
Although black people had been living in the area that is now Pretoria long before the first European settlers arrived, many more flocked to the cities in more recent times in search of work. During the apartheid era separate townships were developed to house this large labour force – Mamelodi (the whistler) to the East on the old Vlakfontein Farm is said to take its name from Paul Kruger who liked to imitate bird calls, Atteridgeville, named after Mrs. Atteridge, a Pretoria City Councillor, lies to the West, and to the North the more recent Soshunguve which takes it name from the origins of the various people settled there ( (So – Sotho; Sha – Shangane; Ngu – Ngune; Ve – Venda)