Think you know everything about Cape Town? We thought we’d list a few interesting things we’ve found out about the city.
- The oldest colonial building in South Africa, The Castle of Good Hope, was once surrounded by water. The castle used to be a welcoming port for sailors traveling around the Cape and used to sit right on the coastline. The landscape transformed over the years and the current harbour caused the coastline to move to the west.
- In 2016, Cape Town received the Blue Flag status for its high-quality water, safety and cleanliness of its beaches. Cape Town was the first city outside of Europe to receive the Blue Flag.
- During the 1840’s, Robben Island was home to leprosy patients as well as the mentally and chronically ill. Initially the patients were there on a voluntary basis and where able to leave freely. However, in 1892 the movement of the patients were restricted due to the introduction of the Leprosy Repression Act.
- The V&A Waterfront is the most visited place in Cape Town, ahead of Table Mountain.
- Cape Town is one of the youngest regions in the world as almost half of the population is younger than 25 years old.
- In 2014, the city was named the best place to visit in the world by the New York Times. Cape Town beat 51 other countries for this title including Perth, Dubai and Taiwan.
- Lion’s Head was not named so because it was once home to lions. It was named Lion’s Head as the space between the mountain and signal hill resembles a crouching lion.
- Cape Town has the most ‘trophy homes’ in all of South Africa. Trophy homes are houses worth more than R20 million.
- It is estimated that at least two couples get engaged on top of Table Mountain every month.
- Cape Town hosts one of the biggest dressed-up parties in South Africa, the Mother City Queer Project (MCQP). This event is also one of the biggest LGBTQ annual events on the African Continent.
- The Zeits MOCAA Museum of Contemporary Art Africa is the largest art museum in Africa. It also holds the world’s largest collection of contemporary African art. The museum covers 6000 square meters over nine floors with 100 gallery spaces.
- Cool Runnings Toboggan Family Park is the only toboggan track in Africa. The toboggans run on a stainless-steel track instead of traditional snow or ice.
- The Cape Floral Kingdom is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The floral kingdom is the smallest and richest recognized floral area on the planet. There are 9600 species of plant in this kingdom of which 70% of the species cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
- Just outside of Cape Town is one the world’s longest wine routes. Route 62 runs for 850 kilometers and ends in Port Elizabeth.
- The annual cycle race, The Cape Town Cycle Tour, is one of the largest individually timed cycle races in the world. The race is 109 kilometers long and around 35 000 cyclists from all over the world take part.