Bo Kaap Heritage Walk

Wander through the brightly colored, cobbled streets of Cape Town's most iconic historic neighborhood to learn about its Cape Malay roots and Islamic heritage.

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1. Auwal Masjid

The Auwal Masjid on Dorp Street is identified by its gray walls and traditional Islamic architectural features. Established in seventeen ninety-four, it is the oldest mosque in South Africa. The building originated as a warehouse that was…

2. Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum

The Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum is identifiable by the curvilinear Baroque parapet crowning its white facade, a classic feature of early Cape Dutch architecture. Housed in a structure dating to seventeen sixty-eight, the building is one of the…

3. Atlas Trading Company

You can identify the Atlas Trading Company by the simple green logo displayed on the pink exterior of the building on Wale Street. Established in nineteen forty-six, this family-owned shop is the oldest spice store in Cape Town. It began…

4. Mosque Shafee

Mosque Shafee occupies the corner of Chiappini and Church streets in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood of Cape Town. It functions as the fifth mosque established in the area, formed through the merger of two separate, adjacent congregations.

5. Biesmiellah Restaurant

Biesmiellah Restaurant occupies a corner building at the intersection of Wale and Pentz streets in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood. Its name derives from the Arabic phrase Bismillah, meaning in the name of God. The establishment is a strictly…

6. Tana Baru Cemetery

Tana Baru Cemetery is the oldest Muslim burial ground in South Africa, covering a hillside at the top of Longmarket Street. Its name comes from the Malay term for new ground. While it was officially granted to Frans of Bengal in eighteen…

7. Bo-Kaap Kombuis

Bo-Kaap Kombuis sits on the slopes of Signal Hill, identified by its sweeping, panoramic views of the Table Mountain skyline and the city below. Known to locals simply as The Kombuis, this restaurant was founded by Yusuf and Nazli Larney,…

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