Overview

Cape Town's founder, Jan van Riebeek, is immortalized in an imposing statue on Heerengracht Street. The figure stands on the spot where Van Riebeeck was thought to have landed in 1652. It was sculpted by John Tweed and donated to the city by Cecil John Rhodes, a politician and financier of the late 19th century. The statue of the founder's French wife, Maria de la Queillerie, was donated to the city by the Jan van Riebeeck Society in the year of Cape Town's tercentenary, 1952. It was created by the Dutch sculptor, Dirk Wolbers.