Erasmus Castle, also known as Die Spookhuis or The Haunted House, is an imposing mansion situated on a hill in the Erasmuskloof suburb of Pretoria, South Africa. Construction began in 1892 and was completed in 1903 for its owner, George Dean Erasmus. The mansion is a unique landmark in the city, and rumours of ghosts and supernatural encounters are plentiful, with claims including lit windows in the uninhabited mansion and hearing disturbing moans at night.
In the late 1960s, the Erasmus heirs were compelled to sell the farm Garsfontein to the Pretoria Municipality as new highways were being developed east of the city. Although those plans fell through, Armscor acquired the property in 1975 for their new headquarters. The board instructed several individuals to restore the mansion to its original form. To clear space, two original farmhouses were demolished stone by stone and re-erected closer to the mansion, while the vandalised Erasmus family cemetery was moved into the old cattle kraal area. In 1989, the construction firm A J Konstruksie (Edms) Bpk was contracted to make urgent restorations.
The mansion remains popular with ghost hunters and historical societies to this day. A cave on the property contains several pre-colonial artefacts, including San artefacts dating from over 150,000 years ago and turquoise beads dating back to traders from ancient Phoenicia. The site also contains a preserved early Voortrekker period home with a historically accurate cow dung floor.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Mutabor
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