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Cape Town History

Cape Town History

Cape Town is not known as the "Mother City" for nothing. It is here that one comes across a 600-000-000-year-old mountain, it is here one can find fossil remains dating back 5 000 000 years. It is here that some of the earliest ever recorded communities lived in sight of Table Mountain 27 000 years ago, it is here that the first Europeans landed searching for a sea route from Europe to Asia.

Cape Town in many ways is where the history of Southern Africa was forged. Today Cape Town is a thriving modern city where most inhabitants have forgotten her rich history, join us here in Cape Town for a walk back in time.

Below is our very brief history tour of Cape Town and surrounding areas. If you feel we have left something out or something needs changing, please get hold of us and let us see what we can do.

History Of Cape Town

  • Khoi people

    Khoi people

    Khoi people some of the first inhabitants of the Cape, it is believed that Khoi migrated towards the Cape Peninsula around 2000 years ago with their large herds of Nguni cattle. The San people were also in the Cape around the same time, but with no written history it is impossible to say who was here first.

  • European Arrivals

    European Arrivals

    Bartholomeu Dias, a Portuguese explorer, was the first known European to have sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488. Vasco da Gama was the next recorded visitor to the Cape in 1497. It was not until around 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck arrived that Europeans first inhabited the Cape.

  • Dutch Arrivals

    Dutch Arrivals

    Jan van Riebeeck established the first permanent European settlement in the Cape on the 6 April 1652; this was to supply the passing Dutch East India Company ships with fresh water, vegetables and meat. Simon van der Stel arrived in 1679 to replace Van Riebeeck as governor of the Cape.

  • Asian Arrivals

    Asian Arrivals

    Asian immigration from current day Indonesia to the Cape started back in 1654; these Asians help form the current populations of Cape coloureds and Cape Malay as well as bringing in Islam to the Cape. They were brought to the Cape as slaves by the Dutch East India Company.

  • French Huguenots

    French Huguenots

    In 1688 the first non-Dutch immigrants arrived in the Cape, and they were the French Huguenots who were fleeing anti-Protestant persecution in Catholic France. They fled to the Netherlands and were then sent to the Cape. They brought with them experience in wine making and formed the town of Franschhoek.

  • The English

    The English

    The English military successfully invaded the Dutch held Cape Colony in 1795 with the "Battle of Muizenberg". In 1802 a peace agreement saw the Cape being returned to Dutch rule, however in 1806 at the Battle of Blaauwberg the British took the Cape back. The British took permanent control of Cape Town in 1814 and held it until 1960.

  • Cape Town Municipality

    Cape Town Municipality

    In 1839 a due to further political developments the Cape Town Municipality was formed, at this stage in Cape Town short history it had a total population of 20 016. Currently (2011 Census) the population stands at 3 750 000 inhabitants with a municipal area covering over 2 455 square kilometres.

  • Union of South Africa

    Union of South Africa

    Britain established the Union of South Africa in 1910 which saw the Cape Colony being merged with the Colony of Natal and the two defeated Boer Republics. This would later in history become the current South Africa that we have in front of us today with Cape Town as the legislative capital.

  • Apartheid

    Apartheid

    In 1948 South Africa introduced the world the Apartheid, a political platform that divided South Africans in 4 racial groupings as well as the Group Areas Act", a law that grouped areas of residence by race. All multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of unlawful residents or demolished by the Government.

  • Robben Island

    Robben Island

    Robben Island translated into Dutch is "Seal Island". First inhabited way back in the Stone-age and since the 1600's Robben Island was used as a prison by the Dutch, English and Apartheid Government. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held; the island is now a museum.

  • The Rainbow Nation

    The Rainbow Nation

    Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades from the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall in 1990. On the 27th April 1994, South Africa had her first ever free and fair elections in which over 20 000 000 South Africans cast their votes, many for the first time in their lives.

  • Current Cape Town

    Current Cape Town

    Cape Town today is the top international tourist destination in the whole of Africa with visitors taking in all of her majestic beauty 364 days a year. Yes, Cape Town has her fair share of issues, but as Capetonians, we are working hard together to help this one of the best cities in the World.

  • Table Mountain

    Table Mountain

    The rocks of Table Mountain are approximately 600 000 000 years old (6 times older than the Himalayas). Table Mountain was named in 1503 by an explorer named António de Saldanha; he called it "Taboa da Caba" (Table of the Cape), the Khoi people called her was "Hoerikwaggo" (The Sea Mountain).
     

Cape Town Hotels Map
Cape Town Travel Topics
  • Shark Cage Diving Cape Town

    Shark Cage Diving Cape Town
    If you live in South Africa, shark cage diving is one of those questionable activities which divides opinion. On the one hand, you have certain conservationists who claim that chumming (luring sharks by throwing bloody bait into the water) is dangerous and alters the balance of marine life and makes sharks lose their fear of humans.
    Shark Cage Diving Cape Town
  • Cape Town Sightseeing Bus

    Cape Town Sightseeing Bus
    Like most major cities in the world, the City Sightseer offers travellers several options to take in all the attractions, over several different routes. If you are short on time, then this has to be one of the best and budget-friendly ways to see the City of Cape Town -The City Sightseer Bus.
    Cape Town Sightseeing Bus
  • Constantia Winelands, What to Do?

    Constantia Winelands, What to Do?
    Just the name of the Cape Town winelands suggests a lazy weekend outing to Stellenbosch or Franschhoek, tasting some excellent wines and then a relaxed luncheon at one of the numerous vineyard restaurants. What people forget is that you can do this right on the doorstep of Cape Town itself within a twenty minute drive south from the city centre to the Constantia Valley.
    Constantia Winelands, What to Do?
  • Design in Cape Town

    Design in Cape Town
    With the Design Capital motto of "Live Design; Transform Life" serving as a leitmotif, Muizenberg is experiencing an unprecedented and exciting wave of investment, community involvement and physical regeneration. Once run down, and derelict corners and buildings have morphed into vibrant areas of activity.
    Design in Cape Town
  • Muizenberg Beach Cape Town

    Muizenberg Beach Cape Town
    From the end of the nineteenth century till the 1960s, Muizenberg was South Africa’s premier seaside resort. Randlords built palatial mansions on the hillside and the seafront. Trains ran directly from Johannesburg without stopping in Cape Town.
    Muizenberg Beach Cape Town
  • 10 best things about Cape Town

    10 best things about Cape Town
    As we hunker down at the end of the week with a glass of local Klein Constantia wine in our hands, our consultant team likes to shoot the breeze. The conversation turns to why we live in and why we love Cape Town. Here are 10 of their suggestions in no particular order:
    10 best things about Cape Town
  • Cape Town Kite Festival

    Cape Town Kite Festival
    At the beginning of November, Muizenberg hosted the 19th Cape Town Kite Festival; an annual jamboree which attracted crowds of over 20000. Being good and responsible corporate citizens of Muizenberg, the Uyaphi team witnessed the sublime and the strange over this two-day festival
    Cape Town Kite Festival
  • Mount Nelson Hotel In Cape Town

    Mount Nelson Hotel In Cape Town
    Perfectly timed for South Africa's spring season, Cape Town's renowned Mount Nelson Hotel - has announced the completion of its winter refurbishment program, which includes an enhancement to the façade of the main hotel.
    Mount Nelson Hotel In Cape Town

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