Company's Garden, Cape Town

On a site now occupied by the 5.5 ha/13.5ac Botanical Gardens the first white settlers laid out vegetable and fruit gardens in 1652. With their exotic trees and flowers, rose garden, aviaries and ponds, the gardens are an oasis of peace in the heart of the city. Under shady trees is a café where visitors may like to rest and relax after their sightseeing.

Other attractions are the scented garden for blind people, a sundial c 1782 and a reproduction of a slave bell c 1855. There are monuments to Sir George Gray, Governor of the Cape Colony from 1845 to 1862, and Cecil Rhodes. The figure of Rhodes shows him pointing northward - reflecting his ambition to extend British influence from the Cape to Cairo. The monument was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, a British architect who came to South Africa in 1892 and received many commissions from Rhodes.

Related Attractions

South African Museum

The South African Museum, established in 1825, has an extensive and varied natural history collection, including archaeological finds, stuffed or reconstructed South African animals and remains of dinosaurs. Dioramas give a vivid picture of what southern Africa looked like millions of years ago. A special department is devoted to the native peoples and their cultures, with particular emphasis on the life of the Bushmen and examples of their art.

Attached to the Museum are an exhibition on the development of printing and a planetarium.

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Bertram House (closed until further notice)

Bertram House, a brick-built Georgian mansion of 1820 is now an outstation of the South African Museum with a collection of period furniture, ceramics, silver and other objets d'art.

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