Iziko Slave Lodge
Iziko Slave Lodge
4
About
The Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town and was previously known as the South African Cultural History Museum. The lower level of this museum explores the long history of slavery in South Africa. Through changing, temporary exhibitions the museum addresses issues around and raises awareness of human rights.The upper level galleries as well as other spaces in the museum will be renewed in the coming years and currently showcases some highlights from the museums ceramics, silverware and Egyptology collections.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
433 reviews
Excellent
170
Very good
157
Average
82
Poor
19
Terrible
5
23RUN
Nottingham, UK552 contributions
Apr 2022
We spent lots of time in here. The upstairs part has temporary exhibitions which were really fascinating and quite moving, about the struggle against apartheid.
The downstairs part is about the slave trade and how it worked in the Cape, with very interesting exhibits and very easy to understand.
The downstairs part is about the slave trade and how it worked in the Cape, with very interesting exhibits and very easy to understand.
Written 15 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RealWomen
London, UK132 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
This should be great, but it is just does not hit the mark. The timeline of the history of Cape Town is in a corridor and very poorly lit. It does not tell you how many slaves were kept in the building at any one time, who was in charge, how did they eat, sleep, wash, what happened when they died, has children, etc. There are no artist interpretations of what the building was like in use. Instead there are rooms about finding ship wrecks and a whole room of just a video of a slave's relative. Nowhere near as educational as I was hoping. A wated opportunity to educate.
Written 17 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Oscar_Retriever
Newton, NC333 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
This is a very interesting museum and a great way to get educated about slavery over the last 800 years. There are a lot of horrible stories, and it is hard to believe the human race can behave as outlined in this museum. It also has hope in it, as it talks of the people freed, how they received their new identities, and the impact they had in their communities. There also exhibits related to apartheid which are educational.
You need to allow at least 2 hours for this.
Some advice to the museum curators… PLEASE do a much better job of guiding visitors through the exhibits in the correct direction, I learned a lot… but it was very scattershot because there was no logical way of following the exhibits in order in nearly the entire museum.
You need to allow at least 2 hours for this.
Some advice to the museum curators… PLEASE do a much better job of guiding visitors through the exhibits in the correct direction, I learned a lot… but it was very scattershot because there was no logical way of following the exhibits in order in nearly the entire museum.
Written 10 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pat S
Rockville, MD252 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
This is a museum trying to address the defining issue of race. The exhibits lack professionalism, and are not presented in a very organized way. That said, if the government wanted to help out, the experience would be so much more thorough, but apparently there was no help forthcoming. The apartheid exhibit is the best, focusing on aspects most of us don’t know.
Written 27 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BobN06
Avondale, PA721 contributions
Apr 2024 • Couples
A really nice history museum - well thought out and presented. The original slave lodge from the days of the Dutch. Despite multiple repurposings since it’s origin, the museum does a good job showing where the original room locations were. Overall, the museum is now dedicated to education on the slave trade, where the role of South Africa is probably not as well known. Through this lens the museum does a very good job of describing the slave trade and its consequences.
Written 16 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Derp M
1 contribution
Feb 2023 • Solo
What an absolute crock of BS. This building had tiny dungeon like rooms for all the 'slaves' yet was used a government offices by the British in 1807. Really? How many idiots fall for this nonsense? Typical propaganda.
Written 19 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Walkrunflytravel
New York City, NY159 contributions
Feb 2023 • Solo
I was surprised how large and extensive this museum was. Ground floor told of the building and some inhabitants but there was an amazing apartheid and resistance exhibit which was my favorite part. Also interesting exhibit about scuba divers uncovering slave ship wrecks. The company gardens is right outside with a cafe for a nice break afterwards
Written 26 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
QW Teo
Singapore, Singapore124 contributions
Aug 2023 • Couples
Good place to understand the slavery of Africa back in the days before emancipation. Entrance fee was 60 rand per adult. Besides slavery, there were also exhibits of African music and Egyptian history.
Written 25 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mollyQuel
West Yorkshire, UK62 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
This place has so much potential- the subject is so important but the delivery of the message is not great. I think it needs serious investment to be bought to a standard that it deserves.
The staff were polite and helpful. There was a-lot of information but all of it presented in a similar fashion.
The staff were polite and helpful. There was a-lot of information but all of it presented in a similar fashion.
Written 9 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Floris vH
Amsterdam, The Netherlands31 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
The museum is quite informative but could be so much better. Some more displays are not working, some signage is incorrect (eg describing a display that isn’t there) and a bit chaotic in the sense that information is not well organized. Eg there are three timelines but they are not parallel, so you can’t really compare what was happening in the world, SA and the Cape, respectively, which is the whole point of the timelines. Room for improvement.
Written 28 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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