It's not everyday you discover an entire town has been declared a national monument. Pilgrim's Rest is one such place. It's a living reminder of the old Transvaal Gold Rush. A one-time refuge to diggers who spent years following false trails (hence the name), the town looks great for a hundred and thirty five.

Retro restoration
What’s old money without worship? The Anglican Church in Pilgrim’s Rest is the town’s oldest building still in existence, built in 1884. Check out the original copper and lead glass window, it was restored in 1919, so no matter what your opinions are with restorations, it’s still retro. There’s a certain piano that might catch your eye, don’t play it. It’s over a hundred years old and you don’t want to be responsible for destroying a priceless relic.

Of wine and worship
Church and drinking? The Church Bar at the Royal Hotel is not a misnomer, a historical take on ironic cool or even blasphemy. It used to be a Catholic chapel for the St. Cyprians School in Cape Town. Then it was dismantled, bought by wealthy miners and brought to Pilgrim’s Rest by boat and a grueling, six week journey from Maputo on ox wagon. Every little piece fitted just as it did back in Cape Town and the church became a bar, open for business. This was all before the first Pilgrim’s rest railway was built in 1914. It’s the only way you’ll ever manage to say, ‘I had a drink at church and it wasn’t Communion,’ without sounding like you’re in need of an intervention.

Mine, all mine
The wealthy mine manager who lived in this house, now a monument to the gold rush Pilgrim’s Rest owes its existence to, collected extravagant Victorian paintings, furniture and glassware. It stands out from the rest of the buildings and through that it puts into perspective just how much the managers profited from the gold rush.

The Printing Museum
The Pilgrim’s Rest gold rush brought prospectors and investors from far and wide. But without access to fast communication methods the people were getting anxious. That frustration sparked the 1874 birth of the first Pilgrim’s newspaper, Gold News. The Printing Museum doesn’t house clippings of the scandalous Pilgrim’s Rest lifestyle (there must have been scandal, all that gold must have gone to someone’s head), but rather the equipment used to make hand-printed news of the 1900s.
 
Cemetery
Cemeteries are generally not a jolly place to visit while you’re on vacation. But the Pilgrim’s Rest graveyard is particularly interesting because of one grave in particular. The Robber’s Grave. Legend has it the man stole tents at the digging sites and was shot at a place now known as Cemetery Hill. He was buried right there with his grave facing the opposite way to everyone else’s, branding him a thief forever.

Dig It
‘Diggings’ is a convincing reconstruction of the valley during the gold rush. There’s still some disturbed ground showing the desperate search for gold. Check out the transport wagon, the waterwheel, and the Gold Commissioner’s Hut. And you should go gold-panning; you might think it’s too late but perhaps you’ll discover your own personal gold rush. You can even join in on the South African Gold Panning Association for practice sessions. They’re world champions. But unfortunately, the nuggets hidden underneath the sand are not real.