High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Voortrekker Monument is a monument situated in the city of Pretoria, South Africa. The massive granite structure, built to honour the Voortrekkers (Pioneers) who left the Cape Colony in the thousands between 1835 and 1854, was designed by the architect Gerard Moerdijk who had the ideal to design a "monument that would stand a thousand years to describe the history and the meaning of the Great Trek to its descendants". It can be seen from almost any location in the city, as it is seated on a hilltop.The idea to build a monument in honour of the Voortrekkers was first discussed on 16 December 1888, when President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic attended the Day of the Covenant celebrations at Blood River in Natal.