Cape Town City Heritage Walk

The Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town. The many names of the building over three centuries – Slave Lodge, Government Offices Building, Old Supreme Court, and SA Cultural History Museum – reflect the long and rich history of the building. In 1998 this museum was renamed the Slave Lodge. Under the umbrella theme, ‘From human Read more...

It was on the balcony of this landmark building where the late President Nelson Mandela made his famous speech when he was released from prison in 1990. It was built in 1905 amazingly out of limestone imported from England! It was also here where Queen Elizabeth II had her 21st birthday party when she was visiting Cape Town back in Read more...

Church Square is one of the three early areas of land around which the early town developed and its boundaries probably began to be defined in 1679 when the first public building, a slave lodge was built. In 1701 the Dutch Reformed Church, known as the Groote Kerk, was erected on its southern side The slave monument is a memorial Read more...

The City of Cape Town has honoured Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu for his role in attaining freedom for South Africa. The city unveiled an arch to mark his contribution to freedom and justice and to celebrate his birthday. Framed by Cape Town’s historic Goverment Avenue, near St George’s Cathedral and Parliament, the arch is also symbolic of his dedication Read more...

Known as the “People’s Cathedral” for its role in the resistance against apartheid, St. George’s Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Southern Africa and the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town. The steps of St Georges Cathedral were often the site of protests during the Apartheid era. A plaque commemorates the peaceful protest march, in contrast to Read more...

The Public Art Piece – The People Shall Govern, by Conrad Botes, on the corner of Burg and Church pays tribute to the many men and women that risked so much in the fight against apartheid on this important day in history. The Purple March was an anti-apartheid protest held in Cape Town on 2 September 1989, four days before Read more...

Greenmarket Square is a historical square in the centre of old Cape Town. The square was built in 1696. In the 18th century the first Burgher Watch House was built on the site in about 1716. Initially it was a plain residential structure, but in 1755 the foundation stone for a new and more ornate building was laid. This was Read more...

The South African Slave Church Museum (also known as the South African Sendinggestig Museum) was established in 1977. The theme of the museum is Christian missionaries and the impact the missionaries had on slaves and the indigenous people of South Africa. Exhibitions at the museum also carry themes about the history of the South African Gestig Congregation, the history of Read more...

Prestwich Place has long been a subject of class and racial conflict in the Western Cape. During the early colonial period the area was used as a burial ground that included Dutch Reformed Church burials and a large number of unmarked graves of the free slaves, blacks, washer women etc. Construction in 2003 along nearby Prestwich St unearthed many skeletons Read more...