Johannesburg, la casa di Gandhi diventa museo-hotel

Johannesburg, nel sobborgo di Orchard, è stato inaugurato nei giorni scorsi un museo-albergo dedicato al Mahatma Gandhi, il padre storico dell'India contemporanea che, giovane avvocato, visse per un ventennio, dal 1893 al 1914, nell'attuale Sudafrica. In questa casa (Satyagraha House, Mohandas Gandhi visse tra il 1908 e il 1909. La casa oggi consta di un museo e di 7 camere per gli ospiti. L'idea dei suoi proprietari, l'agenzia francese Voyageurs du Monde, è quella di promuovere circuiti turistici che abbinino al neonato museo-albergo, visite a di Soweto, della Constitution Hill e della Old Fort Prison di Johannesburg, dove sono stati tenuti prigionieri sia il Mahatma che Nelson Mandela 

This house, in the residential neighbourhood of Orchards in Johannesburg, was the home of Mohandas Gandhi from 1908 to 1909. Within these walls, the future Mahatma created and developed his philosophy of passive resistance: Satyagraha in sanskrit. A pacifist method of protest that he employed in India to lead the country to independence.

The house was built in 1907 by Gandhi’s close friend, the German architect Hermann Kallenbach, and today it begins a new life.

Renovations overseen by a team comprising a historian, a curator, an architect, two interior designers, and their respective teams, have restored the original spirit of the house, bringing back an important page in the history of both South Africa and  Mohandas Gandhi. The Satyagraha House is now a registered part of the country’s historical heritage and presents an innovative accommodation concept linking guesthouse to museum.

In all, seven rooms are spread out between the original house, called the Kraal in reference to its architecture resembling a traditional African farm, the cottage added a few years later, and the modern wing built in 2010.

A museum retracing Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa and particularly those that he shared here with his friend Kallenbach is installed in the very heart of the house. In this way, a peaceful and meditative atmosphere channelling Gandhi’s life within these walls inhabits the property.

http://www.satyagrahahouse.com/en/Travel-Johannesburg