MZANZI ISSUE 16

Heritage
iStock-forgiss
occurred here nor did any kingdoms thrive here. What gave
rise to this mysterious cluster of castles watching over this
almost private little beach, was rather a family’s spirit of pure
fun, wild imagination and carefree holidays and the castles
are mere holiday homes.
did exactly that. Upon completion his holiday home became
known simply as ‘The Castle’. The trend caught on and soon
more followed and today there are a number of ‘castles’ here.
All but one of the six castles are available for vacation rentals,
while functions such as weddings are also hosted here.
Noetzie, derived from the Khoi word Noetziekamma meaning
place of dark water, started out as a holiday destination for
families from Knysna, Oudtshoorn and elsewhere. Long before
the construction of the steep, winding road that could take
motor vehicles to the bottom, those seeking a quiet retreat
would come here on their horse-drawn carts and make their
way to the simple seaside huts and camping grounds below.
Later people started building more permanent structures and
eventually the cluster of castles would arise.
The earliest written reference to Noetzie was made on the
4th March 1786 by adventurer and captain of the Dutch
East India Company Colonal Robert Jacob Gordon. However,
archaeological excavations of the Noetzie midden show that
Noetzie has been a popular destination for the last 3,500 years.
The oldest castle, at the end of the beach, was built in 1930 as
a holiday house by Herbert Stephen Henderson, who lived in
what was then Southern Rhodesia. Building with local stone,
Henderson had no intention of building a ‘castle’, but when a
friend who was watching the building, jokingly said, “All you
need to do is to add a few turrets and you’ll have a castle”, he
The Count’s castle
Over the years many other ‘castles’ have been built in South
Africa, such as the Casa Labia in Muizenberg, Cape Town. This
grand old mansion was built by genuine royalty, the Italian
Count Natale Labia. He and his wife Ida, daughter of the mining
pioneer Sir J.B. Robinson whom the count married in 1921,
built Casa Labia both as a family home and to serve as the
Italian Legation. It was to be a Cape version of the Palazzo
Labia in Venice. It remained in the family who restored this
much-loved national monument. It opened to the public on 5
May 2010 as South Africa’s most exquisite multi-functional
cultural centre.
Another truly authentic castle is the Litchtenstein Castle perched
high up on Karbonkelberg Mountain in Hout Bay, and which
is based on the original Gothic Schloss Lichtenstein Castle
in southern Germany. Once a residence, this magnificent
castle can now be hired as accommodation and for events.
Such then is the story of South Africa’s castles and palaces.
But then again, every person’s home is of course their own
personal castle.
94 |ISSUE 16|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZITRAVEL