Botanical Beauty and Art
Riversdale is perhaps best known for its abundance of indigenous fynbos. During the winter months, the mountains and surrounding areas are an array of rainbow floral displays, which have earned the town recognition as the Floral Paradise of the Garden Route.
Proteas and Ericas are harvested for export and when you enter the town in winter, you’ll immediately smell an odour attributed to the Agathosma, one of the strains of buchu that grows wild here.
The town was officially pronounced in 1938, and now boasts a number of historic landmarks. One of these is the Julius Gordon Africana Centre, which houses a fine collection of South African paintings, including the second-largest collection of paintings by Thomas Bowler, as well as works by Jan Volschenk, Gregoire Boonzaaier, Pieter Wenning and Irma Stern. This flourishing agricultural village was also where C. J. Langenhoven - the ‘Father of the Afrikaans Language’ - spent the last two years of his school life.