Grand Parade

Grand Parade is Cape Town's main public square, a stage the city has used for centuries. Three landmarks give it its frame: the Cape Town City Hall, the Castle of Good Hope and the railway station. On an ordinary day you find market stalls here, with parked cars along the edges.

In 1990 Nelson Mandela spoke here for the first time after his release from prison. That speech marked the beginning of a new era in the country's history. The city put the square through extensive upgrades before the 2010 World Cup, when it hosted the FIFA Fan Fest. The Edwardian City Hall went up in 1905, the work of four architects who won a design competition. Ships brought many of its materials from Europe. Its auditorium holds an organ of 3,165 pipes designed by Sir George Martin, then head organist of St Paul's Cathedral in London. The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra plays this organ.

Nearby, the restored Drill Hall serves as the city's central library. Its shelves hold Cape Town's largest collection of books. Castle walls, the 1905 City Hall and the library stand around the same open ground.