Memorial sights in Africa
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Mosque & Tomb of Sidi Boumediene
About 1.6km southeast of the centre, as the crow flies, lies one of Algeria’s most beautiful complexes, the Mosque & Tomb of Sidi Boumediene, restored by craftsmen from Fès in 1986. Abu Madyan Shu’ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, to give him his full name, was born near Seville around 1115 and studied with Islamic mystics in Morocco before settling in Bejaya on the north Algerian coast and creating his own Sufi circle. A mystic, poet and man of great integrity – he was called the Sheikh of Sheikhs and the Nurturer – Abu Madyan, or Sidi Boumediene, as the Algerians call him, died in Tlemcen in 1197, on his way back to Marrakech. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage and…
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Prestwich Memorial
When construction of new apartments started in 2003 along nearby Prestwich St, many skeletons were uncovered – these were the unmarked graves of the unfortunate slaves and others executed by the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries on what was then known as Gallows Hill. The bones were exhumed and a decision taken to create this memorial building and park, which includes an ossuary – a place where bones are stored.
At the time of research the R8-million building, with its attractive facade of Robben Island slate, was completed but not open to the public. In the park you can see the outline of tram tracks – horse-drawn trams once used to run past here along Somerset…
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National Women’s Memorial
Commemorating the 26,000 women and children who died in British concentration camps during the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War, the National Women’s Memorial depicts a bearded Afrikaner, setting off on his pony to fight the British, bidding a last farewell to his wife and baby, who are to perish in one of the camps. It’s a powerful image and one still buried in the psyche of many Afrikaners.
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