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Cape Town city walk
Kate Crane Briggs takes newly settled Capetonians and first time visitors on a beginner’s journey through the history of Cape Town in this tour through the city’s central business district.
The walk links major historic landmarks with a handful of her favourite lesser-known corners. As an immigrant to the country herself, having married a South African, this walk is designed for people who don’t know the city well.
This is a Culture Connect first.
The tour begins at the Castle of Good Hope, a landmark renowned for being the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. Built by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) between 1666 and 1679, it served as a fortress, administrative centre, and military base.
A few steps away is The Grand Parade, a square that has been the city’s main public gathering space since the 17th century. It originally functioned as a military parade ground and trading area for passing ships. Over time, it became a civic stage for speeches, markets, and political moments, including Nelson Mandela’s first public address after his release in 1990.
One of the country’s most historic cities is District Six, once a vibrant, multiracial neighbourhood until the Apartheid government declared it a whites-only zone under the Group Areas Act in 1966. The result was that more than 60 000 residents were forcibly removed from their homes to the Cape Flats. In 1994, the District Six Museum was opened.
A garden that altered the city’s trajectory, the Company’s Garden marked the start of Cape Town’s formal colonial settlement. While people lived and traded in the region long before 1652, the VOC laid out this garden to supply passing ships with fresh produce, and it soon became the administrative centre of their new outpost. Today, it is a public space framed by major institutions such as Parliament, Iziko National Museums and the National Library. Several of its trees and pathways still follow the original VOC layout.
Less than 50 years later, Greenmarket Square was built in 1696. Now a lively crafts hub surrounded by historic buildings, this cobblestoned square originally served as a vegetable market, slave trading site, and political meeting ground.
In the interests of time, we’ll look up at South Africa’s most photogenic neighbourhood the Bo Kaap. Formerly known as the Malay Quarter , it developed in the 18th and 19th centuries as home to freed slaves and members of the Cape’s Muslim community. Its architecture blends Cape Dutch, Georgian, and later additions. The area remains closely associated with Cape Malay cuisine. The bright house colours are a newish tradition but have become an emblem of the area’s identity.
The walk concludes at the South African Jewish Museum, which traces the arrival and history of Jewish communities in the country from the early 19th century to the present. Participants may then choose to view the new retrospective of South African modernists Wolf Kibel (1903–1938) and Lippy Lipshitz (1903–1980), both influential figures in early 20th-century South African art.
Alongside the major landmarks, the walk includes a selection of lesser-known heritage details and tucked-away corners.
Date: 16 December 2025
Time: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Venue: The Castle of Good Hope, main entrance
Cost: R350 paid before 10 Dec, then R500 each. This includes entry into the South African Jewish Museum – donation recommended
