The Old Slave Tree
The Old Slave Tree Memorial stands on a traffic island in Cape Town, marking where a fir tree once stood. Many enslaved people were sold beneath its branches. Most had been brought from Africa and Asia, making this corner a site of Cape Town’s slavery history. An octagonal structure now occupies the place.
The tree was cut down in 1916, while the last remnants disappeared in 1951 when the street widened. A plaque states that the old slave tree once stood on this spot. Enslaved people also gathered beneath it because churches barred them from entering, adding another layer to the site’s history. The nearby Slave Lodge also serves as a memorial.
- City
- Cape Town
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Take this page with you
The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Cape Town. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.