The Auwal Masjid in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood features a simple, whitewashed exterior and a small, understated minaret. Established in seventeen ninety-four, it is the first mosque built in South Africa. Tuan Guru, a political exile from…
Bo Kaap Heritage Walk
Wander through the brightly colored, cobbled streets of Cape Town's most iconic historic neighborhood to learn about its Cape Malay roots and Islamic heritage.
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1. Auwal Masjid
2. Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum
The Bo-Kaap Museum occupies a house built in seventeen sixty-eight, identifiable by its bright teal exterior and the classic Cape Dutch gable facing the street. It was once the home of Abu Bakr Effendi, a scholar sent from the Ottoman…
3. Atlas Trading Company
A pale green facade and a simple sign distinguish Atlas Trading Company from the residential homes of Schotschekloof. Founded in nineteen forty-six by Cassiem Shariff, the shop serves as a cornerstone for Cape Malay cooking. Shariff began…
4. Mosque Shafee
Mosque Shafee features a distinct, bright green minaret that rises above the rooftops of the Bo-Kaap. Established in eighteen eighty-one, it serves the descendants of enslaved people and political exiles brought to the Cape by the Dutch.…
5. Biesmiellah Restaurant
The exterior of Biesmiellah is marked by bright green trim framing the windows and doors against a simple white facade. It opened in nineteen eighty, founded by Yusuf and Salama Kafaar in the heart of the Bo-Kaap. They started by serving…
6. Tana Baru Cemetery
Tana Baru is the oldest Muslim cemetery in Cape Town, defined by its steep, terraced hillside slopes overlooking the city. When the Dutch East India Company prohibited Islamic burials within town limits in the mid-eighteenth century, the…
7. Bo-Kaap Kombuis
The vibrant, bright orange exterior of Bo-Kaap Kombuis stands out against the steep, cobblestone streets of the neighborhood. Yusuf Larney and his wife Zainie opened this space in two thousand three to share traditional Cape Malay recipes…