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Location |
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History |
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In 1657, while Abraham Gabemma was searching for additional meat resources for the new Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, he saw a giant granite rock glistening in the sun after a rainstorm and named it "de Diamondt en de Peerlberg” Gabemma was the Fiscal at the settlement on the shores of Table Bay. The "diamonds" soon disappeared from the name and it became known simply at Pearl Rock or Pearl Mountain.
Then, in 1687, just 35 years after the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck at the Cape, land for farms was given to some Dutch settlers on the banks of the Berg River nearby. The fertile soil and the Mediterranean-like climate of this region provided perfect conditions for farming. The settlers planted orchards, vegetable gardens and above all, vineyards, which today produce some of the best red wines in the world.
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Attractions |
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Like many towns in the Cape Winelands, Paarl is home to a prosperous community, with many well maintained and attractive Cape Dutch houses, beautiful gardens and streets lined with old oak trees.
Paarl boasts a unique cultural attraction: it was here that the foundations of the Afrikaans language were laid by the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. The "Afrikaanse Taalmonument" on the slopes of Paarl Mountain, the Language Museum and the Afrikaans Language Route through Dal Josaphat are memorials to this achievement.
The former headquarters of the wine industry in South Africa is also situated here.: This was the famous "Co-operative Wine Growers' Association" (better known by its Afrikaans initials KWV). The KWV became a South African institution that has acquired an international reputation based on its unique achievements and its imprint of quality on the local wine industry. Over the past decade, however, KWV became a completely profit-driven private company that has no administrative role anymore. (KWV's main wine production and maturation facilities are on its Paarl premises, while its brandy production takes place in Worcester and grape juice concentrate production in Upington in the Northern Cape).
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Climate |
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Paarl has a Mediterranean climate because it normally receives about 657mm of rain per year during the Winter. It receives the lowest rainfall (9mm) in February and the highest (121mm) in June.
The average daily maximum temperatures range from 16.4°C in July to 28.2°C in February. The region is the coldest during July when the mercury drops to 5.8°C on average during the night.
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