Cape Town City Hall opened in 1905. Its honey-coloured façade is clad in limestone shipped from Bath, England. The building is one of South Africa's finest examples of Italian Renaissance architecture.

Construction was not without incident. As workers dug the foundations, the soil released poisonous gases. A ship carrying stone for the building sank in Table Bay. Yet no expense was spared: Bath sandstone, Aberdeen granite and teak from the east alongside local Table Mountain stone.

The tower houses 39 bells, the largest carillon in southern Africa, modelled on Big Ben's chime. The organ was designed by the organist of St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Above the entrance, a Robben Island slate plaque marks where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech as a free man in February 1990. VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace the city's turbulent path from colonial outpost to democratic nation through the building's remarkable history.