As a village, Paarl is the least picturesque of
the three. Occupying an important trade route along the river valley,
Paarl is strung out along the valley and has always been a centre of
industry. At the time of the gold-rush, it was the centre of the
cart-building industry – you can visit the oldest cooperage in South
Africa. Later, it became a textile town. When that industry collapsed,
Paarl refocused on agriculture and tourism.
As a wine producer, Paarl also veers toward large-scale production.
It is the home of South Africa’s two biggest producers, Neederburg,
which produces close to a million cases a year, and KWV, South
Africa’s premier wine co-op, which for many years was the face of
South African wines abroad.
Paarl lies at the foot of a bare, granite dome-like mountain, the
second largest granite outcrop in the world and the origin of the
town’s name. When one of the first European settlers saw this rock,
glistening in the sunshine after rain, he said it was like a pearl.
The name stuck and the area became know as Paarlvallei.
A stretch of Paarl’s 12-kilometre long Main Road is lined with fine
examples of Cape Dutch, Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco
architecture, largely occupied by restaurants, coffee shops and crafts
shops. The Strooidak Kerk (Thatched Roof Church) is the oldest Dutch
Reforemed Church in the country.
Paarl is less perfect than Stellenbosch and Franschoek, but also less
of a tourist honey pot. It earns its money from servicing agriculture:
in addition to the famous vineyards, oranges, guavas, maize and many
other crops are grown in the vicinity.
