Greenmarket Square

Greenmarket Square is the second-oldest public space in Cape Town, laid out in 1696, and its uses track the city's history: a slave market in the eighteenth century, then a produce market, then a parking lot, and since the late 1980s a daily craft market. The buildings around it are worth as much attention as the stalls - the Old Town House of 1755, a Cape Rococo building that was the burgher watch house and now holds a Dutch and Flemish painting collection, plus Art Deco frontages from the 1930s on the other sides. The stalls sell across the continent: Zimbabwean stone, Congolese masks, Malawian carvings, Kenyan beadwork, alongside South African work, and much of it is traded rather than locally made. Bargaining is expected and the first price to a foreign visitor is well above the last.

History

The square grew up after 1652 as the place where produce from the Company's Garden and nearby farms was sold, and a burgher watch house was built on it in 1696. By the 1730s flat-roofed houses were replacing thatched ones, the Old Town House later rose on the site of the watch house, the Central Metropolitan Church was built in 1879, Art Deco buildings went up in the 1930s, and the square was declared a national monument in 1961 (Wikipedia, Greenmarket Square).

What you'll find

• The 1696 square - the second-oldest public space in the city, with a heavy history.
• The Old Town House - a 1755 Cape Rococo building holding a Dutch and Flemish collection.
• The pan-African stalls - goods traded in from across the continent, not all locally made.
• The Art Deco frontages - 1930s buildings on the surrounding sides.

When to go

All year, weekday mornings. One to two hours. Stalls pack up by late afternoon.

Things to know

Bargaining is expected and starting prices for visitors are high. Much of the stock repeats stall to stall and is imported rather than local. Pickpocketing happens in the crowd. Traders are persistent; a firm no is normal and fine.

Nearby

Company's Garden is uphill; Bo-Kaap is a short walk west.

Key facts