National Heritage Sites in Makhanda
The JLB Smith Institute of Rhodes University has a fascinating display of the coelacanth fish. Fort Selwyn is a History Museum, which focuses on the 1820 Settlers. Makhanda is probably best known as the venue for an annual National Arts Festival, generally considered to be an enriching cultural and cerebral celebration.
It is also home to the world renowned Rhodes University and many of the country's top schools. Among the 70 declared National Heritage sites in Makhanda is The Cathedral of St Michael and St George, with its Victorian and early Edwardian architecture, took 128 years to complete and includes the first ring of bells installed in Africa and the tallest steeple in South Africa, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
A further church among several that is of interest is the Commemoration Church, established in 1850. Visit one of twenty such old post boxes in the world and the oldest in South Africa. Pop a letter to a loved one in this post box. Makana Botanical Gardens, established in 1853 - South Africa’s second oldest botanical gardens. The Observatory Museum houses the only Victorian camera obscura in the southern hemisphere.