CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AND MUSEUM

The oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa, founded in 1841, is Gardens Shul (formerly Cape Town Hebrew Congregation). It is considered the "Mother Synagogue" of South Africa. It includes two buildings, an 1863 synagogue and a 1905 synagogue. (The originally 1849 building is gone.)

A guide told us that this orthodox synagogue seats 1,100.  Since there are only 800 Orthodox Jews in Cape Town, it's probably never hard to find a seat.

I loved the stained glass windows, not something I usually associate with Judaism:

Close-up of two of the panes:

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: AROUND TOWN AND DISTRICT SIX

On our second day in Cape Town, we were picked up by a great guide, Ryan with Samsara travel. He drove to the historical downtown area, where we got out to walk around. I really enjoyed the architecture, which looks a bit French and a bit Dutch to me:

The Metropolitan Methodist Church was built in 1880 in the Victorian Gothic style and was a key site for many anti-apartheid events:

The architecture of the Old Town House is "Cape Rococo." This used to be the main city hall but now serves as an art museum for 17th century Dutch masters:

Close up of the birds from the picture above. Wow, I'm glad I don't have to keep that building clean:

That's a lot of pigeons: