Formally established in 1933 on the banks of the Olifants River, Vredendal was originally known as ‘Bakkeley Plaats’, referring to a fight between settlers and the Khoi people in the 1660s. After peace was brokered it became known as Vredendal - ‘valley of peace’.
Vredendal is the largest town in the Matzikama Region north of Cape Town in the Western Cape. The town lies on the Olifants River, a major water source in this arid region of the northern Western Cape. The agricultural town is further irrigated by the water canal that distributes water from the Olifants River further inland. The town is about 300 km north of Cape Town and about 22 km from the turn-off from the N7, the highway between Cape Town and the Namibian border.
Vredendal is famous for its grapes - wine, table grapes and raisins - and is also the commercial and administrative centre of the region. Owing to its origin to the Olifants River Irrigation Scheme, which allowed the growth of grape farming in Vredendal, the town today has one of South Africa’s largest wine cellars.
Vredendal’s economy is based on mining and agriculture. The area was first inhabited by Khoi people and later by farmers who settled along...
Agritourism in Vredendal is growing and visitors to the town can visit table grape packsheds, wine cellars and farms in the area. Farmstalls...