Cape Town’s Central Business District is better known as the City Bowl. It lies at the foot of Table Mountain and is bounded by Lion’s Head to the west, and Devil’s Peak to the east. The city centre is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by Table Bay Harbour and the V&A Waterfront. The City Bowl is a culturally varied and sophisticated district with superb restaurants, open air markets, historic buildings, and a vibrant night life in the bars and clubs of Loop and Long streets.
The City Bowl: Street by Street
This central part of Cape Town is quite compact and therefore custom-made for walking tours. St. George’s Mall is a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare with plenty of snack bars and coffee shops. Here you can be entertained by street musicians and dancers and also see displays of local art. St. George’s Cathedral, of Victorian Gothic design, is of historical significance in the struggle against apartheid; and Greenmarket Square is famous for its market, which dates back to 1806. Among other historical buildings surrounding this cobblestone square is the Old Townhouse. Long Street is a well preserved historic street lined with elegant Victorian buildings. Trafalgar Place, off Adderly Street, is famous for its flower sellers while Church Street is the place to go if you’re looking for authentic antiques at competitive prices. Government Avenue is an oak-lined pedestrian boulevard that is one of the most serene walks in Cape Town. Towering 32 storeys over the City Bowl is the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel on Strand Street. Its bronzed-glass façade has become a landmark and the views from the top are fantastic.
Grand Parade and City Hall
This is one of the most historically important locations in Cape Town. It was here that Jan Van Riebeek built the first Dutch fort in 1652. For a long time it was a military parade and exercise ground; it then became a popular market area, and remains so today. The Cape Town City Hall that now dominated the Grand Parade was completed in 1905. It is an elaborate Italian Renaissance building, with elegant facades showing on four different streets. The 39-bell carillon tower was added in 1923. The Cape Town Philharmonic holds lunchtime and evening concerts here and it’s well worth attending, if you can get a ticket.
Nice Statue, But Who Is It?
Every community likes to honour significant people with statues, and Cape Town is no exception. As you tour the City Bowl, you’ll see quite a few monuments to people who played their parts in South African history. In Nobel Square you ought to be able to recognize the statues of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Full marks to you if you also recognize the likenesses of two other South African Nobel Prize recipients; Nkosi Albert Luthuli and F.W. de Klerk. But who are the other figures scattered around the City Bowl? Military hero Louis Botha is at Roeland and Parliament streets; Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias stands heroically at the roundabout at the Foreshore end of Heerengracht; Jan Hendrick, author of the South African Constitution, overlooks Church Square; and political leader Cecil Rhodes stands tall in the Company Gardens. Immortalized outside the Cape Town Train Station on Heerengracht are Jan Van Riebeek and his wife Marie de la Queillerie. There are two statues, at opposite ends of Government Avenue, of Jan Smuts, the controversial general and prime minister. A relatively short walk separates these two sculptures, but as with any other two points in the City Bowl, there is a lot to be seen in between.
Published At: Isnare.com
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