Slavery in the Cape: Revealing

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Slavery in the Cape: Revealing

(25 reviews)
Cape Town audio tour: Slavery in the Cape: Revealing
This is a 1.8mi walking tour
It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.
Cape Town
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$2.99
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About the Tour

Almost thirty years ago, genealogist Aubrey Springveldt started investigating his own family tree. His research led him on a pilgrimage into the earliest days of the Cape, and an ancestry shaped by slavery.

Join him on that pilgrimage by visiting some of the landmarks connected to slavery in Cape Town. Landmarks like the Place of Justice, where slaves were brutally punished, and the Prestwich Memorial, where they were buried in unmarked graves. Along the way, Aubrey peels back the layers of his own past, and talks about his work in reclaiming the past for others.

Categories
Black History Religious Sites Colonial History

Tour Producer

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Aubrey Springveldt

2 tours

I grew up about an hour's drive from the city centre of Cape Town. I did my primary school at the African Methodist Episcopal Church and my high school education at Esselen School in Worcester. In 1975, I completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the Western Cape in Bellville, where I also received a teacher's diploma. I taught in Worcester from 1976 until 1983 and then in Cape Town until 1996 when I decided to become a tour guide.

All my life, I've had a passion for genealogy. I started on my own family tree in 1987, and after years of pioneering research, I discovered my own slave ancestry. This started me on a lifelong pursuit of the history of slavery at the Cape.

Preview Location

Location 7

Slave Bell

Do you see the bell in front of you? It’s a memorial slave bell. Let’s stop for a minute here. Slave bells were brought in from Europe to regulate and control the routine of the slaves. This slave bell stands here as one of the significant symbols of the 180 years of slavery a... Read More
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Major Landmarks

  • Iziko Slave Lodge

  • Cape Town Groote Kerk

  • The Company's Gardens

  • Cape Town Church Square

  • Trafalgar Place Flower Market

  • Iziko Koopmans-De Wet House

  • Prestwich Memorial Garden

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.
  1. Start location
    Corner Adderley Street and, Wale St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
  2. Total distance
    3km
  3. Final location
    Buitengracht St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
  4. Distance back to start location
    816.08m

Directions to Starting Point

The walk begins at the Slave Lodge, on the corner of Adderley and Wale Streets. It is a short walk from Cape Town Station and accessible from the Groote Kerk MyCiti stop on bus lines 106 and 107.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Slave Lodge, Company's Garden Restaurant, Bread, Milk and Honey, District Six Museum, Castle, Trafalgar Place, Koopman's-de Wet House, Truth Coffee

Best time of day

The Slave Lodge is open from 10:00 to 17:00, Monday to Saturday, and it's an excellent place to cement your understanding of this route's story. A number of the other points of interest are only accessible at similar times, and if you'd like to visit them along the way, give yourself an hour or two to complete this walk.

Precautions

As with any large city, stay alert and keep an eye on your belongings.

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App Store Review
“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”
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Questions and Reviews

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