Stroll downhill from the Post Office Tree and rest beside the little body of water that's known as Dias' Spring: you'll find yourself in the presence of history. Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 1 Market Street, CBD, Mossel Bay Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: info@diasmuseum.co.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za Historical Background read more

[caption id="attachment_6910" align="alignright" width="105" caption="The Granary at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex"][/caption] The Granary forms the entrance to the Dias Museum Complex.  It houses a conference room and hosts cultural exhibits lecture which are changed from time to time. Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 1 Market Street, CBD, Mossel Bay Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: info@diasmuseum.co.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za Historical Background read more

[caption id="attachment_6899" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The Post Office Tree, Mossel Bay"][/caption] A historic milkwood tree that's been used as a kind of post office since the early 1500s. If you visit Mossel Bay, you MUST stop here and send a card or two to the folks back home! The tree is the centre piece of the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex. Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex 1 Market Street Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: info@diasmuseum.co.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za read more

[caption id="attachment_6892" align="alignright" width="99" caption="The Stone Church, Church Street (Number 54 on the Mossel Bay Historic Walk map)"][/caption] The Old Quarter of Mossel Bay is famous for its well-preserved historic buildings - many of which were built by stone masons from Cornwall (particularly the Donald, Carter, and Rogers families) who settled in the town in the second half of the 19th Century. The buildings were all erected in the period from about 1830 to the early 1900s, and include homes, commercial and municipal buildings, churches, schools, the Cape St. Blaize Lighthouse, ...read more

[caption id="attachment_6963" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The ATKV-Hartenbos Museum of the Great Trek"][/caption] This Museum examines the lives of the Voortrekkers - the Boers (Dutch: farmers) who left the Cape Colony en mass in 1838, and trekked northwards in search of land away from Colonial rule. The Museum also commemorates the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek of 1938 - the re-enactment of the original event that took place in its centenary year - and the history of the popular holiday resort of Hartenbos. The Museum houses ox wagons, weapons, household implements, clothing, and other ...read more

[caption id="attachment_6926" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The Field Garden and Maritime Museum at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex"][/caption] The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex is built around the Post Office Tree and was opened on the 3rd of February 1988. It replaced the municipal Mossel Bay museum (later the Post Office Tree Museum Complex), which was opened in the 1960s. The Dias Museum Complex includes: The Post Office Tree A Maritime Museum A Shell Museum The Granary Dias’ Spring An Ethno-botanic Garden, Braille Trail, and Field Gardens The ...read more

[caption id="attachment_6908" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex's Maritime Museum houses a full-sized replica of Dias' ship"][/caption] The Maritime Museum in the Dias Museum Complex houses a life-sized replica of the ship in which Bartolomeu Dias sailed round the Cape and landed in Mossel Bay in 1488.Other displays explore the story of the early Portuguese, Dutch and English navigators. On the upper level, a cultural display focuses on the heritage of Mossel Bay - the district and its people, from pre-historic times until today.   Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 1 Market Street, CBD, Mossel Bay Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: info@diasmuseum.co.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za Historical Background read more

[caption id="attachment_6930" align="alignright" width="99" caption="The Shell Museum at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex"][/caption] The Shell Museum at the Dias Museum Complex portrays the history of our use of shells. A touch tank provides an opportunity to touch live sea animals. The Department of Environmental Affairs presents marine and coastal educational programmes to scholars at the museum. Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 1 Market Street, CBD, Mossel Bay Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: amunro@deat.gov.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za Historical Background read more

[caption id="attachment_6923" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The Braille Trail in the Ethno-botanical Garden at the Dias Museum Complex"][/caption] A collection of plants that occur naturally in the Mossel Bay area and that were used by the Khoi, San, Coloured, Xhosa and European settlers for shelter, food and medicine as well as for magic and rituals. The Braille Trail makes it possible for sight-impaired people to experience the  collection. Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500 1 Market Street, CBD, Mossel Bay Phone: +27 (0)44 691 1067 Fax: +27 (0)44 691 1915 Email: info@diasmuseum.co.za Homepage: http://www.diasmuseum.co.za Background read more

[caption id="attachment_6967" align="alignright" width="91" caption="Great Brak River Museum"][/caption] This Museum occupies an old school house that was built in 1902. It explores the history of the village of Great Brak River (which was founded on the arrival of the Searle family in 1859) and houses a small collection of artefacts from the indigenous Khoe and Khoisan people. It contains a large and important collection of local photographs dating back to the early days of photography (which was introduced in 1839). The Museum was begun in 1975 by Russell Searle (a ...read more