Monuments to visit Capetown

The Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Built in 1679, it housed over 9,000 slaves brought by the Dutch East India Company to serve as labour for the colony. From 1810 onwards, the building was converted to serve as a government office and later as the Supreme Court. It was first restored in 1960 to become the Museum of Cultural History and renamed Slave Lodge in 1998. Today, the collective memory attempts to highlight the heritage of slaves in Cape Town, a heritage that has long been obscured in the country's history. The focus is on the roots and ancestry of the Cape's mixed-race people. The route of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) slaves from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Mozambique is compared to the transatlantic route to the plantations in America. In an alcove, on an interactive light column, inside rotating rings, are inscribed names given to the slaves by their owners: Welcome, Fortune, September, Titus, Cupid, Solomon or Moses... For generations, these slaves, once they arrived at the Slave Lodge, were sold like ordinary goods under a fig tree located at the back of the building, now on Spin Street. Finally, a multimedia room immerses the visitor in this dark and oppressive world. To better understand their daily life, go to Groot Constantia, an agricultural estate where they were largely exploited. The temporary exhibitions are interesting.

Built between 1755 and 1761 in the Cape Rococo style, the house housed the Senate, the Magistrates' Court and the police. The silver trowel used to lay the foundation stone can be seen in the museum! The Old Town House was converted into the Town Hall until it was moved to the new City Hall in 1905. It now houses a collection from the golden age of Dutch painting, from the 16th to the 17th century. In its tree-lined courtyard, there is a pleasant tea room.

This graceful building, built in 1777, is today considered to be one of the most complete examples of an 18th century bourgeois house, and is one of the few buildings from this period in the city. This is evidenced by the rococo sculptures above the doorway by the German Anton Anreith. In the past, this building was the tax centre of the VOC. Today it houses the William Fehr Collection, a South African businessman and art collector, part of which is also on display in the Castle of Good Hope.