Pella was founded in 1814 by the London Missionary Society. Khoisan driven out of Namibia sought refuge here. Pella was abandoned in 1872 due to a drought, but the Roman Catholic Church reopened the mission in 1878. The Old Cathedral took two missionaries seven years to build, as they used an encyclopaedia as a building manual. The cathedral has an Arabian atmosphere and is surrounded by date palms. Pella's figs, grapes and pomegranates are given water by a spring that reaches the surface, and this spring water a grove of dates which is sent to mail-order customers across South Africa. (Updated Apr-12).