CAPE TOWNThe City was developed around the refreshment station established at the foot of Table Mountain by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. Among the city’s numerous historic treasures are the pentagonal Castle (built between 1666 and 1679) and the Cultural History Museum, erected in 1679 as slave quarters, and subsequently serving as government offices and a supreme court. The nearby Company’s Garden was established in 1652 to supply passing ships of the Dutch East India Company with fresh produce, and between 1692 and 1783 it was developed into a world-famous botanical garden. |
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Along the oak-lined Government Avenue stand the South African National Gallery, the South African Museum and Bertram House, an early-19th-century red brick Georgian house with an outstanding collection of English furniture. The Old Town House (1755) on Greenmarket Square houses a world-renowned collection of paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters. Koopmans De Wet House, with its neoclassical façade, has a fine collection of old Cape furniture, Chinese and Japanese ceramics and Dutch delftware.
Not far away, in the area formerly known as the Malay Quarter, the Bo-Kaap Museum portrays the richness of Cape Malay culture, while the District Six Museum chronicles the forced removal of 60 000 people from District Six to the Cape Flats from 1966 to 1982.
Siyabona Africa Travel recommends Guest House accommodation in Cape Town City Bowl |
TABLE MOUNTAIN...together with Lion’s Head and Signal Hill to the west, and Devil’s Peak to the east, is one of the best-known natural landmarks in the world. It is home to a rich diversity of fynbos flora, and among its 1 470 plant species are proteas, ericas, reeds, the exquisite red disa (Disa uniflora) and a profusion of other flowering plants. Declared a national monument in 1957, Table Mountain 2 forms part of the Cape Peninsula National Park, which was proclaimed in May 1998. |
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The park stretches from Signal Hill to Cape Point, and is expected to cover about 30 000 ha once sections of state land and privately owned property have been incorporated. The mountain can be ascended along several walking routes, but this is best done with a guide if you are unfamiliar with the routes. The mountain’s highest point, Maclear’s Beacon, towers 1 086 m above the Mother City.
Read more about the history of Table Mountain |
CABLEWAYMore than 13 million people have made the journey to the top of Table Mountain by cable car 2 since the cableway was officially opened in October 1929. In October 1997, a major upgrade was completed, and two large cable cars, each capable of carrying 65 people at a time, now make the five-minute journey to the summit. During the trip, the car floor rotates through 360 degrees, providing passengers with a superb view of the city. The summit offers spectacular views of the city, the sweep of Table Bay, Robben Island and the Table Mountain chain.
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LION’S HEADRising steeply to a height of 669 m immediately to the northwest of Kloof Nek, Lion’s Head is an erosional relic of sandstone underlain by more resistant granite. The soil derived from the weathered granite is favoured by the silver tree (Leucadendron argenteum), a member of the protea family. The largest remaining natural population of this species can be seen on the southeastern slopes of Lion’s Head.
The name of the conical peak is thought to come from its resemblance to the head of a lion – with Signal Hill forming the rump. Lion’s Head offers an ideal vantage point; in 1673, a signalling post was set up on its summit, and watchers would fire a small cannon to notify the Castle of any approaching ships. |
SIGNAL HILL...originally named Leeuwenbil (Lion’s Rump) by the early Dutch settlers, but after the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, it replaced Lion’s Head as a signalling station and became known as Signal Hill. Every day except Sunday, in a city tradition dating back to 1902, the Noon Gun is fired from the Lion Battery, established on the northeastern slopes of Signal Hill in 1891. Between Lion’s Head and Signal Hill is one of several Muslim kramats, or shrines, which form the ‘circle of Islam’ around the Cape Peninsula.
According to a 275-year-old Malay prophecy, those living within the circle will be safe from fire, famine, plague, earthquakes and tidal waves. From the parking area at the end of Signal Hill, there are fine vistas over Cape Town, Table Bay, Green Point and the city’s northern suburbs. |
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