Bloemfontein - Fourth Raadsaal

Opposite the Court of Appeal is the Fourth Raadsaal, one of the city's handsomest buildings. The foundation stone was laid by President F. W. Reitz in 1890 and the building was completed in 1893. It is a Renaissance-style building in red brick with a prominent dome and a portico of Ionic columns. The last session of the Parliament of the old Boer republic of the Orange Free State was held here before the occupation of Bloemfontein by British forces in March 1900. It is now the seat of the Provincial Council of the province of Free State. In front of the building is a monument (by Coert Steynberg) to Christiaan de Wet, a general during the Boer War.