Monuments

Over extensive periods from 1948 until the present day, national monuments in Namibia have been identified and declared to a number of preceding and current heritage conservation bodies. They are:

Historical Monuments Commission (1948-1968).
The National Monuments Council of South Africa (1969-1990).
The National Monuments Council of Namibia (1990-).
These organizations have protected Namibia's cultural and natural heritage, beginning with the salvaging and reconstruction of 2 Portuguese padrões. These historic crosses were erected by Portuguese explorers whilst searching for a seafaring trade route around the Cape of Good Hope as naval beacons. The first cross was erected by Bartolomeu Diaz at Diaz Point near the Atlantic coastal town of Luderitz in 1488. Although it would be hundreds of years later that fragments of the first cross would be restored and erected on the exact location of the original cross, the history of heritage conservation in Namibia was under way.

Namibia's national monuments fall into the following categories:

Archaeology
Botany
Churches
Geology
Historical
Industrial heritage
Military
Natural sites
Padrões
Palaeontology

"Some moments are monuments, preserve them forever" - E. Fhemida Khan