- Western Cape
- Aurora
Aurora, Western Cape
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Aurora, established in 1906, is is one of those little almost unheard of villages on the west coast of South Africa approximately 185km from Cape Town, 43km kilometres north-west of Piketberg and 29km south of Redelinghuys.
The town lies at the foot of the western flank of the Piketberg mountains, a typical Sandveld village with uncomplicated people full of character. People visit here for the simplicity, the incredible night skies, and the wild flowers during their season.
It is a small, unassuming town which was first established as a church centre for the people in the area, the pavement of which serves as a Friday afternoon meeting place for those who wish to watch the comings and goings of the local visitors to the town.
The town's reputation as “The Place” in which to retire or escape the rat race is slowly disappearing as more commercial properties develop and residential properties start to rival other coastal villages close to Cape Town. As a result of this, on the outskirts of the village you will find examples of more ostentatious houses than those that rest on its main grid.
History
Named after Ceylonia Aurora Perreira, the daughter of the first Dutch Reformed Minister in the area, the village has an interesting history. It was here that the French astronomer-geodesist, Abbé Nicolas de le Caille set up an observatory where his findings concluded that the world was pear-shaped; a result that had the astronomical world in a bit of a tail spin for decades whilst they tried to prove otherwise.
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