THE CAPE TOUR 2
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Century City |
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Century City is a city in the making on the outskirts of Cape Town, just 8km from the City Centre. It combines retail, leisure, office, entertainment and residential components, on a scale unprecedented in Africa. The largest shopping centre in Africa is at the heart of Century City, this will open in October 2000. The Centre will offer a compelling shopping and entertainment experience and will complement the adjacent Ratanga Junction theme park. The development also includes 6km of navigable waterways and a 16ha protected wetland system. |
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Chapman's Peak Drive |
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Between Hout Bay and Noordhoek on the peninsula's west coast. Probably one of the most spectacular scenic routes in the world, it was built between 1915 and 1922. The road is built on the line demarcating the sedimentary Table Mountain sandstone that is deposited on Cape granite, it cuts through brilliantly coloured layers of red, orange and yellow silt and dark lines of manganese. The road has now been closed until further notice because of rock falls. However, visitors can still travel to various lookout points from the Hout Bay side - take your camera with you to photograph the spectacular views. Road
was opened 21 December 2003 |
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Clifton and Camps Bay Beaches |
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| Clifton is Cape Town's most glamorous beach, packed during summer season with body beautifuls with bronze tans and gold jewellery. The mountains form the back-drop to Camps Bay, a spacious family beach where volley ball is king. Men and women are fitness-crazy and show off their beautiful bodies. All beaches are topless-optional for women. |
| Company Gardens and Government Avenue | 
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| Situated at
the top end of Adderley Street in the City Centre, the Company Gardens
were established in 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck to provide fresh produce
for passing ships. As produce became available from the growing
farming community, it gradually changed to a botanical and pleasure
garden. It is now a tranquil haven for city dwellers and office
workers who spend a peaceful lunch-hour on the lawns, under the
trees or next to the ponds. Bordering the Company Gardens is the
oaktree-lined Government Avenue that links Adderley Street with
Orange Street. Surrounding the Gardens and Government Avenue are notable buildings like the Houses of Parliament, Tuynhuis (the residence and offices of the President), the South African Museum and Planetarium, the South African National Gallery, the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, the South African Library and St George's Cathedral. |
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Deco Architecture |
| The City Centre
is a treasure trove for Art Deco fans with a fascinating mix of
commercial styles and local blends. When walking in the city, just
look upwards above the level of the shops and restuarants on the
street. Most of these buildings have been carefully restored to
reflect their earlier glory. The greatest concentration of Deco in the Cape is in Greenmarket Square. The imposing Shell House (now the Garden Court Hotel) was built in 1929 and reflects subdued classical elements. Namaqua House has green and marble street-level facings; Kimberley House with its sandstone base and black tile accent is next to the Commercial Union Building with its black marble plinth and brush-hammered pink Transvaal granite. The Sun Assurance Block built around 1933 features both Deco and classical elements in plaster and concrete. Tucked away in the vicinity of Plein and Darling Streets, are more imposing Deco buildings. The General Post Office building is a solid mixture of Transvaal and Cape granite and reconstructed stonework. Across the road is the splendid Old Mutual Building featuring a combination of proportion, function and decoration - its Deco sculptures, friezes and frescos illustrate the history, flora, fauna and peoples of South Africa. On the corner of Darling and Plein Streets is the old OK Bazaars building with its canopy, buff marble and plaster decoration, together with the Cuthberts and Ackermans buildings in Plein Street it forms an interesting group of Deco variants. In Church Square Geneva House is a wonderfully intact example of the period. The cherry on the top of the city's Deco architecture is the remodelled Victorian building now known as JJ Muller Optometrists whose chrome and vitrolite features are superb evocations of the Deco genre. There are many other wonderful examples of Deco and other architecture which you can discover only by wandering through the streets of the city centre. |
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