The Granary
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 The ochre-coloured Granary is a replica of a building that was erected in 1786 for the grain and wool industries by the Dutch East India Company (VOC or Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). The original building was demolished in the late 1940s to make room for a warehouse - but when that was demolished in 1986, the foundations of the original granary were rediscovered. The present building stands on these foundations. The Granary is the Dias Museum Complex’s reception, information, and education centre. Its conference room occupies about a third of the available space. The Granary houses revolving exhibitions, and a live specimen table that displays cuttings of the various species of fynbos (Cape macchia) that grow in the Mossel Bay area, and which are currently in flower. INFORMATION The Granary forms the entrance to Dias Museum Complex, which is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information: www.diasmuseum.co.za/granary.html

• Latitude    34° 10'49.43"S Longitude   22° 8'32.37"E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Maritime Museum
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 Originally built as a grain- and sawmill in 1901, the building that now houses the Maritime Museum at the Dias Museum Complex was re-designed by the Cape Town-based architect Gawie Fagan in the early 1980s to house a replica of the ship on which Bartolomeu Dias sailed into Mossel Bay in 1488. Bartolomeu Dias (1451 – 24 May 1500) lead the first official European expedition known to have sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, and became the first of the great European navigators to land on South African soil (at Mossel Bay on 3 February, 1488). Before undertaking his expedition (which aimed to find a trade route to India while at the same time making contact with the fabled Christian and African leader, Prester John), Dias worked as the superintendent of the royal warehouses in the court of King John II of Portugal. Although his expedition failed in both of its tasks, it lead the way for Vasco da Gama’s 1497 voyage to India (during which da Gama stopped at Mossel Bay, and bartered with the indigenous Khoisan people). Since we have no accurate plans of the kind of caravel on which Dias would have sailed, the drawings for the replica that now stands in the Maritime Museum were conceived using various resources by the Aporvela (the Portuguese Sail Training Association), and the ship itself was built at Vila do Conde, in Portugal, by Samuel & Filhos, Lda., and was launched by Portugal’s First Lady, Maria Soares, on the 14 June, 1987. The replica was sailed to South Africa as part of the Dias88 Festival, which commemorated the 500th anniversary of Dias’ landing. The ship left Lisbon on the 8th of November, 1987, and arrived in Mossel Bay on the 3rd of February, 1988. During the festival, she also visited Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Port Edward, and Durban, before finally returning to her permanent dry-dock in the Maritime Museum. Watch a video about the 1988 voyage of the caravel ‘Bartolomeu Dias’ here The Maritime Museum also houses displays of navigational instruments used in the Age of Discovery, a large collection of maps by early cartographers, and an exhibition of local history. The building is fitted with tiered bench-seating, and is often used for lectures, meetings, concerts and recitals as it possesses excellent acoustics. INFORMATION Access the Maritime Museum via the Dias Museum Complex (entrance at The Granary). The Complex is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information:  www.diasmuseum.co.za/maritime.html

• Latitude    34° 10'48.21"S
• Longitude    22° 8'29.96"E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex
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 Munro’s Hoek Cottages

Two Cape Dutch style cottages in the Complex’s gardens are used by the Mossel Bay Archaeology Project, and are not open to the public. They are replicas - built on the original foundations - of houses which Alexander Munro erected in about 1830. Munro ran a seamen’s canteen here, and his family later operated a seal hunting and whaling station from the adjacent Santos Beach.

• Malay Graves

These graves - which face Mecca and are situated close to the Post Office Tree - were re-discovered in 1968. The land on which they stand was granted as a Muslim burial ground in the mid 1800s, and it is thought that at least one of the graves may belong to an imam who was buried here after dying at sea.

The Museum is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday.

• Monday to Friday 09h00 - 16h45
• Weekends and Public Holidays 09h00 - 15h45

Latitude   34° 10'49.42"S Longitude  22° 8'32.39"E Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here:

• 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

Great Brak River Museum
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 director of the Searle’s Shoe Factory which was once one of the largest employers in the village), and the collection was later donated to the Great Brak River Municipality (now incorporated into the Mossel Bay Municipality). The Museum houses the local tourism information centre. Visits can be arranged to the village's restored 1924 hydro-power station on request. Open

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 09:00 - 16:00;
• Wednesday 09:00 - 12:30.

 

• P.O. Box 20, Great Brak River, 6525
• 2 Amy Searle Street, Great Brak River
• Phone: +27 (0)44 620 3338
• Fax: +27 (0)44 620 3176
• Email: gbrmuseum@gmail.com
• Homepage: http://www.greatbrakriver.co.za

Latitude    34° 2'26.00"S Longitude   22° 13'4.80"E Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Shell Museum & Aquarium
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 The Shirley Building - named for Joe Shirley, who once used it for his plumbing business - was built in 1902 as an annex of the old mill (now the Maritime Museum). It served as a storage facility, furniture factory, and motor garage before it was restored and opened as the Shell Museum in 1988 (concrete slabs found during renovations indicate that it might also at one time have been used by a wheelwright). The displays in the Museum are arranged in a spiral pattern similar to the interior shape of a gastropod. Displays include aquaria, a model of a giant squid (Architeuthis sp.), a touch tank, the ‘Man and Mollusc’ exhibition which explores how shells have been used over the ages, a whales and dolphins exhibit, and South Africa’s largest collection of terrestrial, fresh water, and marine shells. INFORMATION Access the Shell Museum via the Dias Museum Complex (entrance at The Granary). The Complex is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information: www.diasmuseum.co.za/shell.html

• Latitude    34°10'50.16"S
• Longitude   22° 8'28.79"E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

The Post Office Tree
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

Historical Background The Post Office Tree is an ancient milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme) that’s become one of Mossel Bay’s favourite tourist attractions. The evergreen white milkwood (Afrikaans, melkhout; Xhosa, umQwashu) belongs to the family Sapotaceae, and is typically found in dune and littoral (sea shore) forests, and in coastal woodlands. It is usually a small to medium size tree that grows to a maximum of about 10 to 15 metres in height. Its small greenish-white flowers appear in late summer and autumn (November to April), and emit a strong, unpleasant smell. The fruits are purple to black, small, round, and fleshy, and are present from late summer to spring (February to September). They’re commonly eaten by birds, bats, monkeys and bush pigs. Both the fruit and the leaves contain a milky latex. The wood is yellow, strong, and very hard and durable. It was formerly used in ship building, but milkwoods are now protected and harvesting is prohibited. The roots are used in traditional medicine to treat fevers and broken bones, and to dispel nightmares. They are also used to treat gall sickness in livestock. The story of Mossel Bay’s Post Office Tree is intricately linked to the maritime history of South Africa. In the year 1500 the nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 – c. 1520) lead his fleet of 13 ships out of Portugal on an expedition to find a way of by-passing Arab, Turkish, and Italian monopolies on the spice trade. After voyaging westward to Brazil (which Cabral claimed for the Portuguese Crown), the fleet sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and on to India. There, at Calicut (now Kozhikode), Cabral established good relations with the local ruler - but the situation quickly deteriorated, and the explorers were forced to flee. While they were travelling southward, Pêro (or Pedro) de Ataide (1450 - 1504) and his men became separated from the fleet. They decided therefore to make for Aguada de São Brás (now Mossel Bay), where they hoped to find their colleagues. But it was in vain: although they waited for some time, no sails appeared on the horizon. de Ataide knew that João da Nova (1460 - 1509) had been ordered by King Manuel I of Portugal to lead the Third India Armada to the east in 1501. Knowing the dangers he would face, de Ataide wrote a letter to da Nova, warning him of the situation in India - and left it hidden (either in an iron pot or in an old boot) in the Post Office Tree. da Nova found the letter - almost against all odds - and went on to fight Portugal’s first significant naval battle in the Indian Ocean: the defeat of the Calicut fleet off Cannanore on December 31, 1501. Milkwoods are long-lived plants, and the Post Office Tree that you see today is the very tree under which de Ataide left his letter. The tree was declared a national heritage site (national monument) during the 20th Century, and a post box (shaped like an old boot) was installed under its canopy. Today, cards and letters posted at the Post Office Tree are always stamped with a special commemorative frank. INFORMATION Access the Post Office tree via the Dias Museum Complex (entrance at The Granary). The Complex is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information:

• www.visitmosselbay.co.za/museums-and-culture/dias-museum-complex-4
• www.diasmuseum.co.za/tree.html

Latitude    34° 10'49.37"S Longitude   22° 8'28.78"E Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Ethno Botanical Garden & Braille Trail
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

BackgroundThe grounds of the Dias Museum Complex include a Braille Trail, as well as Ethno-botanic and Field Gardens with dramatic views of the adjacent Santos Beach and the full sweep of Mossel Bay. The Ethno-botanic Garden has been planted in the area surrounding the Granary and the Maritime Museum. It contains a collection of plants that occur naturally in the Mossel Bay area and which have been - or are still - used for, food, magic, and medicinal purposes by the Khoi, San, Coloured, Xhosa and European people of the area. The Braille Trail is incorporated as part of the Ethno-botanic garden so that the visually-impaired can read about, feel, and smell the plants in the collection. The valley east of the Post Office Tree - the Field Garden - is a natural area of milkwoods (Sideroxylon inerme), wild olives (Olea capensis), and grasses. The Field Garden features a statue of Bartolomeu Dias, a grassed amphitheatre, and mock archaeology digs where local school children are taught about the archaeology of Mossel Bay (see separate article: ‘Cape St. Blaize Cave’). INFORMATION Access the Gardens via the Dias Museum Complex (entrance at The Granary). The Complex is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information: www.diasmuseum.co.za/garden.html

• Latitude    34° 10'48.92"S
• Longitude   22° 8'30.97"E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.  

The ATKV-Hartenbos Museum of the Great Trek
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 historic artefacts - many of which were donated during the Symbolic Trek. The displays are divided into ten halls depicting various aspects of the theme:

• Preparing for the Great Trek;
• Outspan (camping and relaxing) at the end of a day`s journey:
• Repairing the ox wagons;
• Building a laager (the traditional camp in which the wagons were drawn onto a circle for protection against attack);
• How the Boers relaxed during the Great Trek;
• Daily activities (baking bread, candle making);
• Settling in after the journey (featuring family worship in a Boer homestead); and
• The Voortrekkers' Freedom struggle.

Two of the halls are devoted to the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek of 1938 and the History of Hartenbos.

• Kaap De Goede Hoop Laan
• Hartenbos
• Tel: +2744-601 7243
• Fax: +2744-695 0770
• E-mail: hartenbos@atkv.org.za
• Homepage: www.hartenbos.co.za

Latitude    34° 7'28.34"S Longitude   22° 6'46.59"E Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Mossel Bay’s Historic Walk
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, and a rare example of terrace housing (St. Blaize Terrace, built in 1909 and renovated in 1986). The Mossel Bay Heritage Society and Mossel Bay Tourism have documented many of the buildings on a handy map which is available from the information office on the corner of Church and Market Streets. INFORMATION Collect the ‘Explore Historical Mossel Bay On Foot’ map from Mossel Bay Tourism, or download HERE: (pdf, 2.75 mb) MBay Historic Walk LOW RES Latitude    34° 10'48.34"S Longitude   22° 8'35.61"E

Dias’ Spring
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 A little way downhill from the Post Office Tree, this tiny spring has been a constant supply of fresh water since before Bartolomeu Dias, João da Nova, and other early seafarers visited Mossel Bay. Dias named the bay ‘Aguada de São Bras’ - the Watering Place of St. Blaize - in honour of both the spring and the fact that he landed here on the Feast of St. Blaize (the 3rd of February). According to the Portuguese historian, Gaspar Correa (who visited in 1512), the spring flowed ‘over a rocky verge into a small dam’ - and it does so still today. The Dias Museum Complex now extracts water from the Spring for use in its irrigation and toilet systems. INFORMATION Access Dias’ Spring via the Dias Museum Complex (entrance at The Granary). The Complex is open daily except Christmas Day and Good Friday. More information: www.diasmuseum.co.za/fountain.html

• Latitude    34° 10'48.46"S
• Longitude   22° 8'27.78"E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.