Botswanas national monuments and protected areas

Old Palapye was gazetted as a National Monument in 1938, and falls under the jurisdiction of the National Museum and Monuments. Old Palapye is located within the Tswapong region in the Central District. The settlement is 20 kilometres to the east of Palapye Town. The name Palapye was originally spelled as ‘Phalatswe’ which means the ‘place of impalas’.

The name was borrowed from the prominent hills north of Malaka on the northwest rim of the Tswapong Hills. Old Palapye was established by Khama III and was destined to be the capital of Bamangwato people in 1889. What is visible today in Old Palapye are the structures for trading stores, elementary school, prison and churches, all of European architectural design. It was an area blossoming into a city estimated to have had 30,000 people in 1892. Old Palapye is one of Botswana’s hidden treasures because of the beauty of its natural landscape.