The Pier Street Mosque, or Green Mosque as many know it as, is probably one of the most recognisable places of worship in Port Elizabeth. Not many would know though that the open space next to it is called Dias Park, named after the first European to round the Cape and discover Algoa Bay. Bartholomeus Dias entered the Bay in 1488 and planted a stone cross on St Croix Island. Today this rock, which has absolutely no link to Dias what so ever other than his name, is situated in the middle of the park with a plaque containing information on his journey..
It always astonishes me to think what Dias and his crew must have gone through to get from Portugal to PE, and that after all that they planted a few crosses and went back home. Love the Pier Street mosque.
ReplyDelete