Mandela `long walk` to freedom recreated in shrine
Johannesburg – Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s shrine has been designed with a winding path to recreate his “long walk” to freedom.
Architect Greg Straw designed and built Mandela’s final resting place, where he was buried on Sunday, a serene garden at the top of a hill overlooking the village of Qunu where the anti-apartheid hero spent his childhood and much of his retirement, News24 reports.
According to the report, the 1.2 kilometer path stretches from the foot of the hill to Mandela’s final vantage point portraying the life and times of Madiba, Straw said.
The garden will eventually be turned into a memorial for people to pay their respects, complete with a museum at the foot of the hill, the report added.
The idea for the winding path was inspired by Mandela’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”, published after he was freed from 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime’s oppressive racial laws.