Diamonds, a heart transplant, vintage goodies to preserved bones or specimens: who said history had to be boring? With a long, rich, sordid and yet triumphant past, Cape Town has a whirlwind of museums, memorials, heritage sites and ruins to visit.
Also read: 10 things to do in Cape Town CBD, even if you’re on a budget
If you know anything about Cape Town, you probably know about the Castle of Good Hope or Robben Island , but what about some of the other historical gems dotted around the city?
Here are a couple of fascinating and a little freaky stops to visit that might not get the spotlight they deserve – but are equally as important to the long past of the Cape:
1. The Heart of Cape Town Museum
Cape Town is the famed destination of the world’s first successful heart transplant – pioneering the medical world into a new frontier. Regarded as one of the greatest moments in medical history, the Heart of Cape Town Museum is dedicated to the world’s first successful heart transplant and honours everyone who played a major role in a surgical feat.
The most amazing experience would be to stand where Chris Barnard did the world’s first heart transplant. Walk through the corridors of an iconic hospital and have a look at the displays in the Groote Schuur Hospital that was founded in 1938 which is fully restored, original operating rooms laid out as they were on the day of the operation.
It also includes a timeline of events that led up to the operation, and exhibitions honouring the famed surgeon – Christiaan Barnard, the patient Louis Washkansky, and the donor Denise Darvall.
- Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am- 3pm
- Location: Groote Schuur Hospital, Main Road, Observatory, Cape Town
2. Cape Town Diamond Museum
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to learn about the diamond industry, the history of diamonds, South African diamonds, and the history of the South African diamond rush? See preserved mining gear, historical artifacts, and famous diamond replicas like The Cullinan, The Hope, and The Taylor-Burton diamonds.
Dedicated to creating a new appreciation of diamonds, the Cape Town Diamond Museum as donated by acclaimed jeweller, Yair Shimansky to pay tribute to the world’s most precious gem, the diamond.
Here you can witness a 3,3 billion-year-old story unfold from its creation at the core of the Earth, to the mine, and eventually, to the completed polished stone set in your precious jewellery creation.
- Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 9am-7pm
- Location: Level 1 Clock Tower, Clock Tower District, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town
3. Toeka Stoor
You’ll find everything from veteran motors, old petrol pumps and road signs to clothing and sewing machines from the 1900s at Toeka Stoor, even what beauty products looked like way back then.
With a coffee shop serving delicious South African favourites, such as bobotie pies, “ouma se kerrie vetkoek”, jaffels, and “moerkoffie” in a tin cup. Plus, there’s a kiddies’ play area and farm animals roaming the grounds. The cherry on top? It’s free to enter!
- Location: Domaine Brahms Wineries Windmeul, Paarl
- Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 9am – 4pm
- Entrance fee: Free (show your support by visiting the coffee shop)
4. The Medical Morphology Museum
Feeling brave enough to view specimens of all kinds and preserved human organs? See for yourself what healthy organs look like compared with unhealthy ones, or see what might go wrong during the complex processes of ontogenetic human development at the Medical Morpholgy Museum
The Medical Morphology Museum is housed at the Medical Faculty at Stellenbosch University’s Tygerberg Campus in Bellville. You’ll definitely leave the museum with more respect for the body and a better understanding of human and animal diversity, past and present.
- Location: Tygerberg Hospital, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tyerberg, Cape Town
- Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 4pm; Saturdays: 9am – 1pm (Groups of 5 and more)
- Entrance Fee: Students R15 and adults R50
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Picture: Toeka Stoor/Facebook