{{Short description|Town in Western Cape, South Africa}} {{Use South African English|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Calitzdorp | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 290 | image_style = border:1; | perrow = 1/2/2 | image1 = Calitzdorp main.jpg | image2 = Calitzdorp Dutch Reformed Church clock tower.JPG | image3 = Calitzdorp sign.jpg}} | image_caption = '''Clockwise from Top''': Calitzdorp Main Road, Calitzdorp sign, Dutch Reformed Church of Calitzdorp. | pushpin_map = South Africa Western Cape#South Africa | coordinates = {{coord|33|32|15|S|21|41|07|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[South Africa]] | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = [[Western Cape]] | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = [[Garden Route District Municipality|Garden Route]] | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = [[Kannaland Local Municipality|Kannaland]] | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Proclaimed | established_date = 1909 | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/174005 |title = Main Place Calitzdorp |work=Census 2011}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 26.33 | elevation_m = 240 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 4284 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto <!-- demographics (section 1) --> | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics1_title1 = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]] | demographics1_info1 = 4.3% | demographics1_title2 = [[Coloureds|Coloured]] | demographics1_info2 = 85.5% | demographics1_title3 = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]] | demographics1_info3 = 0.5% | demographics1_title4 = [[White South African|White]] | demographics1_info4 = 8.9% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.8% <!-- demographics (section 2) --> | demographics_type2 = [[First language]]s (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = [[Afrikaans]] | demographics2_info1 = 94.2% | demographics2_title2 = [[South African English|English]] | demographics2_info2 = 3.3% | demographics2_title3 = | demographics2_info3 = | demographics2_title4 = | demographics2_info4 = | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 2.5% <!-- blank fields (section 2) --> <!-- Other information --> | timezone1 = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]] | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street) | postal_code = 6660 | postal2_code_type = [[Post-office box|PO box]] | postal2_code = 6660 | area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]] | area_code = 044 }} '''Calitzdorp''' is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein [[Karoo]] in the [[Western Cape Province]] of [[South Africa]] and lies on South Africa's [[Route 62 (South Africa)|Route 62]].
==History== The land on which Calitzdorp is situated was originally granted to Jacobus Johannes and Matthys Christian Calitz in 1821. They named the farm Buffelsvlei, after the local vegetation and wildlife found in the area.<ref name="H1">{{cite web| url=https://www.calitzdorp.co.za/history.htm| title =Calitzdorp history}}</ref>
In 1853, the Calitz brothers donated part of their farmland for the construction of a church. By 1858, the church had begun selling plots to members of the congregation.<ref name="H1"/>
Calitzdorp was officially proclaimed a town in 1909.<ref name=H2>{{cite conference |last1=Homer |first1=Dudley |last2=Van Wyk |first2=Graham |date=April 1984 |title=Quiet desperation: The poverty of Calitzdorp |url=https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11090/288/1984_horner_ccp36.pdf?sequence=1|conference=Second Carnegie Inquiry into Poverty and Development in Southern Africa |isbn=0 7992 0777 2}}</ref> By 1910, the town’s population had grown to around 4,000, creating the need for a larger church and school. Both buildings were completed in 1912. The church, built in a [[Neo-Byzantine style]] with a [[Roof tiles#Marseilles tiles|Marseilles-tiled roof]]. It was declared a national monument in 1991.<ref name="H1"/>
Construction also began in 1912 on the old [[Standard Bank]] building, which now houses the local museum, as well as the Calitzdorp Dam. The dam wall was one of first in South Africa to be built using [[concrete]]. However, the town later faced several setbacks, including [[droughts]], the [[Spanish flu|great influenza epidemic]], and the collapse of the [[ostrich]] feather industry.<ref name="H1"/>
The town continued to develop after the construction of the [[railway]] line to [[Oudtshoorn]] in 1924.<ref name="H2"/> This was followed by [[electrification]] and the completion of the first [[Road surface#Concrete|concrete road]] between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn in 1937.<ref name="H1"/> The new [[R62 (South Africa)|R62 route]] was completed in 1978. ==Geography== ===Topography=== The Swartberg (in the North), Rooiberge (to the South) and the Mountains of the Huisrivier Pass (to the West) surrounds Calitzdorp's challenging landscape with floods, droughts and [[extreme weather]], from very hot to snow clad mountaintops in the winter.
===Climate=== Summers are very hot during the day, mainly a dry heat, up to 40 °C. Wind from the sea every afternoon allows for moderate, cool evenings. Winters have sunny days, very cold nights with occasional frost and snow often falling on the surrounding Swartberg Mountain Range. Rainfall is approximately 200 mm per year, often with the changing of seasons. Prevailing winds are mainly from the south in summer and hot wind from the North in August.
==Demographics== {{Historical populations | title= Population census | percentages = pagr | align = none | cols = 2 | source =<ref name="H2"/><ref name="census2011" /> | 1904 | 509 | 1911 | 724 | 1921 | 1727 | 1936 | 1993 | 1946 | 1933 | 1951 | 2134 | 1960 | 2299 | 1970 | 2575 | 1980 | 2880 | 2001 | 3188 | 2011 | 4284 }} ==Tourism== Calitzdorp is a haven for enthusiasts of fishing, bird-watching, 4×4 and other scenic routes, horse-riding and [[wine tasting]].
Calitzdorp is renowned as a centre of the port wine industry in South Africa with several major wine estates famous for their award-winning products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boplaas.co.za/|title=Boplaas Family Vineyards Since 1880 | South Africa|website=Boplaas Wines}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://calitzdorpwine.co.za/|title=Calitzdorp Cellar | Taste The Klein Karoo in the heart of Calitzdorp|website=Calitzdorp Cellar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dekrans.co.za/|title=Main Home|website=De Krans Wines}}</ref> A Port festival takes place in the town in mid-June each year.<ref>{{cite web |title=CALITZDORP PORT & WINE FESTIVAL |url=https://www.sa-venues.com/events/westerncape/calitzdorp-port-wine-festival/ |website=sa-venues}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.calitzdorp.co.za Calitzdorp Info] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120209113042/http://www.tourismcalitzdorp.co.za/ Calitzdorp Tourism Bureau] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110526170633/http://www.route62.co.za/route62towns.php?townID=4&image2.x=11&image2.y=5 Route 62] {{Commons}} {{Garden Route District Municipality}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Populated places in the Kannaland Local Municipality]] [[Category:Hot springs of South Africa]]