If you go to Cape Town, one place you must visit is the second oldest public space in Cape Town - Greenmarket Square. Dating back to 1696, this cobbled square is one of the city’s oldest markets. It began life as a trading spot for passing ships.

Despite being well over 300 years old, the only thing that has changed are the wares. It started life as a slave market, then became a vegetable market selling the produce of the Dutch East India’s Company Gardens, and a period as a dull parking lot but now is the vibrant arts and crafts market. The sound of the marimbas filling the air, the colourful and eccentric stall holders, artists and buskers make this historical monument a snapshot of the heart of the city. Stalls stuffed with crafts, clothing, jewellery, nick-nacks, African arts and crafts, surround the hand-operated water pump in its centre which used to supply clean drinking water to the city’s early inhabitants. The square itself is surrounded by restaurants, coffee shops and historical buildings, each of which are well worth a visit.

The history of the square and the part it played from slave market to hosting anti- apartheid protests make it a unique spot in South Africa.

Art, culture, food, music, people all make Greenmarket Square a bustling, lively, and almost timeless place to visit.