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.
