ALBANY
MUSEUM COMPLEX, Grahamstown
The complex incorporates five separate venues: the
History Museum, the Natural Sciences Museum, the Observatory
Museum, the Provost Prison and Fort Selwyn, at the
1820 Settlers National Mounument.
Tel 046 622 3241 e-mail:
info@grahamstown.co.za
BARTOLOMEU
DIAS MUSEUM COMPLEX, Mossel Bay
Opened in 1989 to mark the 500th anniversary of Dias's
historic landing, the museum contains a full-sized
replica of Diaz's caravel. The complex also includes
the Old Post Office Tree, where early navigators left
messages for each other in a shoe.
Tel 044 691 1067 e-mail: diasmuseum.mweb.co.za
BO
KAAP MUSEUM, Cape Town
The museum is housed in a small private home dating
back to the 1760s. The house is the oldest in the
area still in its original form and is furnished in
typical early-Muslim fashion.
Tel 021 426 4260 e-mail:
info@capetown.org
BUSHMEN'S
CAVE MUSEUM, Giant's Castle Reserve, Drakensberg
Contains more than 700 San Bushman rock paintings,
some over 800 years, in marvellous mountain scenery.
Tel 036 353 3718
CASTLE
OF GOOD HOPE MILITARY MUSEUM, Cape Town
The Castle of Good Hope was built between 1666-79.
Its Military Museum depicts the military history of
the Cape, and contains weapons and uniforms from the
Dutch and British periods of occupation. The noted
William Fehr Collection contains many priceless paintings,
including those by old masters such as Thomas Baines,
period furniture, glass ceramics and metalware.
Tel 021 469 1249 e-mail: casteel@cis.co.za
DISTRICT
SIX MUSEUM, Cape Town
The museum is housed in the former Methodist Central
Mission Building, prominent during the Struggle, and
records what life was like in this largely Muslim
community before it was cleared of its inhabitants
under the Group Areas Act in 1966.
Tel 021 461 4735 e-mail: info@disrictsix.co.za
THE
KILLIE CAMPBELL MUSEUM, Durban
This elegant museum contains Killie Campbell's priceless
collection of Africana books, the Mashu Museum of
Ethnology and the William Campbell Furniture Museum
- all housed at Muckleneuk, former home of the pioneering
Campbell family now maintained by the University of
Natal.
Tel 031 209 5066
EAST
LONDON MUSEUM, East London
Contains the first specimen of a coelacanth and the
only dodo's egg in existence, as well as a range of
sea- shells and fishes. The cultural history of the
Xhosa people is another feature.
Tel 043 722 6015 e-mail: eltour@mweb.co.za
GROOT
CONSTANTIA WINE MUSEUM, Western Cape
The wine museum on the historic farming estate has
a superb collection of artefacts and drinking vessels,
telling the story of wine making at the Cape since
the 17th Century. There are also wine cellars and
vineyards to walk through and restaurants to enjoy.
Tel 021 794 5128 e-mail: gct@mweb.co.za
KOOPMANS-DE
WET HOUSE, Cape Town
A former cultural salon in 18th Century Cape Town,
this elegant house contains a beautiful collection
of furniture, porcelain and cultural artefacts.
Tel 021 424 2473
JLB
SMITH INSTITUTE, Grahamstown
Contains exhibits of famous coelacanth and the largest
collection of fishes in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tel 046 336 1002
MELROSE
HOUSE, Pretoria
Built in the 1880s, the house is one of South Africa's
most beautifully-preserved examples of Victorian architecture
and furnishings. The Treaty of Vereeniging was signed
here, ending the second Anglo-Boer War.
Tel 012 322 2805 e-mail: melrosehouse@intekom.co.za
MUSEUM
AFRICA, Johannesburg
Has a superb collection of old prints and paintings,
historic documents, war memorabilia and maps. It also
depicts what the living conditions were like under
apartheid in townships like Sophiatown
Tel 011 833 5624 e-mail: museum@mj.org.za
NATAL
MARITIME MUSEUM, Durban
Photographs and memorabilia of Durban's seafaring
past are displayed in the museum. The tugboats Ulundi
and JR More and the minesweeper SAS Durban form part
of the exhibits.
Tel 031 300 6324
NATIONAL
MUSEUM, Bloemfontein
Contains a fine collection of dinosaur fossils, an
extensive natural and cultural collection as well
a as reconstruction of a typical 19th-century Bloemfontein
street.
Tel 051 447 9609
OWL
HOUSE,
A small Karoo cottage, with walls covered with coloured
ground glass, containing Helen Martin's sculptures,
created from basic materials over 30 years. Owls are
a recurring theme of this extraordinarily colourful
exhibition.
Tel 049 841 1659 e-mail: owlhouse@intekom.co.za
PRETORIA
ART MUSEUM, Pretoria
This art library and gallery containing over 3000
works of art, including some by leading South African
painters such as Pierneef and von Wouw as well as
part of the Michaelis Collection of Dutch and Flemish
paintings
Tel 012 344 1807 e-mail: artmuseumpta@intekom.co.za
ROBBEN
ISLAND MUSEUM, 11 km north of Cape Town
From as early as 1936 the island served as a penal
settlement, in whose maximum-security prison Nelson
Mandela and other political prisoners were incarcerated
in the 1960s. The island is now a national monument
and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999. Tours
leave daily by boat from the V & A Waterfront.
Tel 021 419 1300 e-mail: bookings@robben-island.org.za
SOUTH
AFRICAN MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM, Cape Town
The museum dates back to 1897 and specialises in natural
history, archaeology, entomology and palaeontology.
Sophisticated optical equipment in the Planetarium
reconstructs the southern night skies. Of special
interest to visitors are the whale skeletons and lifelike
casts of San Bushmen people.
Tel 021 424 3330 e-mail: tferreira@samuseum.ac.za
SOUTH
AFRICAN NATIONAL GALLERY, Cape Town
South Africa's premier art museum houses outstanding
collections of South African, African, British, French,
Dutch and Flemish art. Selections from the Permanent
Collection change regularly to enable the museum to
mount regular exhibitions of paintings, works on paper,
photography, sculpture, beadwork, textiles and architecture.
Tel 021 465 1628
STELLENBOSCH
VILLAGE MUSEUM, Stellenbosch
This regional museum comprises four homesteads and
gardens, furnished in period style and containing
colonial artefacts pertaining to the district of Stellenbosch.
Tel 021 887 2902 e-mail: stelmus@mweb.co.za
TRANSVAAL
MUSEUM, Pretoria
This natural history museum has a remarkable collection
of stuffed animals, as well as permanent archaeological
and geological exhibitions depicting the evolution
of life on earth. Many of South Africa's indigenous
birds are displayed in the Austin Roberts Bird Hall
Tel 012 322 7632
Links
to Useful Sites
www.museums.org.za
