Affectionately known as the Belvidere Church, the Holy Trinity Church in Knysna would make it onto my Top 5 favorite churches around South Africa. The church was modeled on the Norman churches of the 11th and 12 Centuries and was built with locally mined sandstone and timber from the Knysna forest. Its foundation stone was laid on 15 October 1851 and it was consecrated on the 5th of October 1855.
There is a love story attached to the church as it was built by Thomas Henry Duthie, who was the founder of the village of Belvidere, for his wife Caroline, a daughter of George Rex. The Duthies built their home on the farm which Belvidere was established on and decided that they needed a church to complete their happiness. The church would be used to celebrate things like holy days and the baptisms of their future children.
The picture above was taken from the church entrance and in it you see that there are only 5 rows of pews on each side and a nave that is only 5.3 metres (17’6”) wide. The church is open to the public every day of the week except for Sundays during the church service.
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