Landmark
Long Street
Long St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000
Victorian street of wrought-iron balconies, lively bars and hostels, hiding a freed slave's breakaway mosque.
This guide to Long Street in Cape Town follows Jan van Bougies, a freed slave who rose within the congregation of the city's first mosque, the Auwal Mosque, and wanted to become its next imam. You'll hear about the plain townhouse at number 185, indistinguishable from any other Cape facade, and what happened after Jan did not get the role he sought. A good detail to look for: how two centuries of a rising street have left the building's windows sitting oddly low.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.