City Center, Cape Town

This is the oldest surviving stone building in South Africa, built in 1666-79 as the residence of the Governor and for the protection of the early settlers, though in fact the castle, which is in the form of a five-pointed star, was never exposed to attack.The main gate leads into an inner courtyard. The range of buildings with an elaborate columned balcony, originally used for ceremonial and official occasions, now houses the William Fehr Collection. The collection includes pictures, porcelain, fine glass, ceramics and furniture of the 17th-19th C from South Africa, Europe and Asia.Other parts of the castle can be seen only on conducted tours. Visitors are shown various prisons and store-rooms (in which archaeological finds are displayed) and taken up on to one of the bastions. Much of the castle is closed to the public, since it is the provincial headquarters of the South African army.

Adderley Street, the city's principal shopping street, runs past the railroad station (1970) and tourist information office and comes to the Golden Acre shopping center (1978).During the construction of the center the remains of a water reservoir of 1663 were discovered and were incorporated in the new building.On the ground floor is the High Water Mark, showing where the coastline of Table Bay ran in 1663.There are more shops in the underground mall between the Strand Concourse and Adderley Street.

The Cape Town City Hall (1905) is a striking mix of Italian Neo-Renaissance and British colonial style. The 60m/200ft high bell-tower, with a carillon installed in 1923, was modeled on London's Big Ben.

The Groote Kerk (Great Church) is the oldest and best known church in South Africa. The first church on this site, built in 1678, was rebuilt in 1703 and again in 1836. The bell-tower dates from 1703. The Groote Kerk is the mother church of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) of South Africa. The pulpit was carved by Anton Anreith.

The Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town. The original building, c 1679, served as a lodge for the slaves of the Dutch East India Company. Approximately six hundred slaves were housed in this building at a time.In the mid 18th C the second storey was added and was converted to accommodate the Supreme Court.Today the building houses the Cultural History Museum which contains Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, collections of stamps, coins and weapons and a 19th C pharmacy. Of particular historical interest are the "post stones" under which outward-bound seamen left letters in the hope that ships sailing in the opposite direction would pick them up and carry them home.In the courtyard is a reproduction of Jan van Riebeeck's grave.

The Neo-Gothic St George's Cathedral (designed by Sir Herbert Baker, 1897-1901) was the seat of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former head of the Anglican Church in South Africa and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Opposite the Library is the imposing façade of the Houses of Parliament. The original building, in which parliamentary sittings were first held in 1814, has been much altered and extended since then. Here the South African Parliament meets between the end of January and the end of June; during the rest of the year it meets in Pretoria. Its debates are open to the public. When Parliament is not sitting there are conducted tours of the building.

The South African National Gallery is mainly devoted to South African artists but also contains works by British, French and Dutch masters of the 17th-20th C.Frequent temporary exhibitions focusing on photography, sculpture, beadwork, textiles and architecture are included.

The modern South African Jewish Museum is entered through the oldest synagogue in the country (1863). Displays include a collection of Jewish art and exhibits illustrating the history of Jews in South Africa through the use of multi-media displays and includes a recreation of a typical village in Lithuania, a country to which most South African Jews can trace their origins.

St George's Street is a pleasant pedestrian precinct with trees, fountains, benches and numerous shops, enlivened by street musicians and other performers.

Green Market Square, from 1710 onwards, was Cape Town's market square. In this atmospheric little cobbled square, with a number of Art Deco buildings as a backdrop, a small flea market is held every day of the week except Sunday.

The South African Association of Arts has a collection of contemporary South African art. The display is changed every three weeks.

The Suid-afrikaanse Sendinggestig Museum is housed in an old slave chapel built by the South African Missionary Society in 1804. The restored building's exhibits detail Christian missions in the Western Cape.

In Riebeeck Square, where the first settlers on the Cape set up their camp, is St Stephen's Church. Originally a theater and opera house, it was converted into a Dutch Reformed church in 1839.

The picturesque flat-roofed two-story houses in old Malay quarter, color-washed in a variety of colors, are still mainly occupied by Malays, the descendants of slaves who were brought to the Cape from the East Indies in the second half of the 17th C and later mostly became craftsmen of various kinds.They have preserved their Islamic traditions: there are a number of small mosques in the area, and the muezzin's call to prayer is heard five times a day. One of these mosques, the Masjid Korhaanol in Longmarket Street, has remained almost unchanged since it was built in 1886. Some of the houses (most of which date from the 19th C) have been renovated in recent years

In Strand Street is the Lutheran Church, one of the oldest Protestant churches in South Africa, consecrated in 1787. The bell-tower was added in 1818. The pulpit and choir screen were carved by Anton Anreith.

A notable building in Strand Street is the Koopmans-de Wet House built in 1701 on a U-shaped ground-plan, with a façade by Louis Thibault (1771). The original interior has been preserved and gives a vivid impression of the life-style of a successful 18th C businessman. The period furniture is the work of both European and South African craftsmen.

ARTscape Theatre, formerly the Nico Malan Opera House and Theatre, Cape Town's most modern theater, stages a full program of opera, ballet, drama and concerts.The theater is linked with the Civic Centre, the headquarters of municipal administration.

This square between the Castle and City Hall was originally laid out in 1710 as a parade ground. It is now a parking lot, except for one corner where there are flower and fruit stalls. A flea market is held here on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The District Six Museum is for and about the people of the now-vanished district. On the museum's floor is a large-scale map on which former residents are encouraged to label their old homes and features of their neighbourhood.70,000 residents of this multi-ethnic area were displaced in 1966 when the South African government decided the community was to be a white one. After District Six was bulldozed in 1982, the government changed the street layout and the names of the few roads remaining. Much of the area lays empty.