A STORY WE LOVE
THE FRANSCHHOEK WINE TRAM
Grab a cup of coffee and join us on a journey into the rich history that runs deep within our tram lines!
THE TOWN
Explore the 300-year history that reveals the depth of our rich heritage. Did you know that the history of Franschhoek stretches back more than 300 years? Let us share this 300-year story with you!
It begins across the waters in France in the 1600s, where at this time, there was widespread religious persecution by the ruling Catholics towards the Protestants. Because of this, more than 200 000 of these Protestants became refugees, as they fled their home country for others in Europe, many of them making their way to the Netherlands. At this time, the Dutch East India Company governed a small colony on the tip of Southern Africa, known as the Cape colony.
The Cape is where the refugees were sent, on ships that were originally designed to carry cargo, and after a long and gruelling trip, which lasted several months, they arrived on soil that was foreign to them, but a place they were ready to call home. Franschhoek, or ‘Olifantshoek’, as it was then named for the herds of elephants that roamed the area, was where nine of these Huguenot families ultimately settled after having been given land by the Dutch authorities.
Through determination and perseverance, they transformed the wilderness around them into one of the most beautiful valleys in the Cape, if not the world!
