The massive granite structure, built to honour the Voortrekkers (Afrikaans and Dutch for pioneers, literally "those who trek ahead", "fore-trekkers") who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854, was designed by the architect Gerard Moerdijk who had the idea to design a "monument that would stand a thousand years to describe the history and the meaning of the Great Trek to its descendants." [Maverick Chen / China.org.cn]