History and culture in Polokwane

TTo find out how the Voortrekkers lived, check out the Arend Dieperink Museum in Mokopane. The museum is housed in a historic building and provides a fascinating insight into the past, from the time of ancient humans to recent times.

Discover the life of our hairier hominid forebears at Makapans Valley on the outskirts of Mokopane. This archaeological site contains evidence of human life in the valley as far back as 3.5 million years ago.

Further north, along the banks of the Limpopo River, lies South Africa's very own lost city of gold: Mapungubwe World Heritage Site. A thousand years ago, Mapungubwe was the centre of the largest Iron Age kingdom in the subcontinent, where highly sophisticated people traded gold and ivory with China, India and Egypt.

TToday you can walk amongst the almost untouched remains of palace sites, as well as a settlement site and two earlier capital sites, each offering an extraordinary picture of social development over a 400-year timespan.

The area of Venda, north-east of Polokwane, is home to a number of artists and craftspeople. It offers fascinating mythology, ancient ruins and fulfilling places to stay.