Victorian-era buildings of the Klein Karoo that have escaped the developers' wrecking ball.
Consider, for a moment, the glorious Otto Hager Church at the base of Church Street in Ladismith, where much of the Klein Karoo's remarkably diverse architecture is to be found.
It is a pure example of a building that is pleasing to look at and photograph. Its story is also great: the brilliance of Carl Otto Hager, designer of more than 25 Neo-Gothic styled churches in South Africa, the fact that it was rebuilt twice, that it was used as a lucerne store by farmers for decades, and that the steeple was also rebuilt. That it is now the home of Ladismith Tourism, with a small but interesting museum attached.
Down Church Street
Church Street deserves a slow drive, a slow walk, or maybe several of both. There are the missionary churches, simple thatched cottages and a number of old Karoo houses with Ladismith Eyes for summer ventilation. One householder has incorporated a Ladismith Eye into his gate.
As you walk through the town, you can reel off the various styles: Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian, Art Deco, Karoo Style, Ladismith Style, Ostrich Palace pomp, Cape Dutch Revival. There's even a Lithuanian-style synagogue that is now tragically falling apart.
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