Braamfontein
Inner-city district rebuilt over a dynamite-blast crater, now dense with student bars, galleries and rooftop markets.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Braamfontein in Johannesburg opens on the afternoon of February 19, 1896, when a railway shunter nudged a freight train loaded with dynamite crates left waiting in a siding. You'll hear how the ground under the district disappeared and how the shock reached towns well over a hundred kilometres away, and about the dispute over how many people the blast claimed. It follows how the neighbourhood's office towers, university and bars grew up on the ground it left behind.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Maboneng Precinct
Post-industrial arts and culture district of converted warehouses, murals, markets and creative studios in a former no-go inner-city zone.
Rosebank
Leafy commercial district of galleries, malls and a rooftop craft market once segregated under apartheid law.
Neighbour Goods
Rooftop weekend market of food stalls, craft vendors and live music above the city skyline.
Melville
Bohemian inner-city suburb of tree-lined streets, indie cafes, and a rocky Iron Age hill overlooking it all.
Arts on Main
Converted early-twentieth-century warehouses housing artist studios, galleries and a lively Sunday design market.
Newtown
Former fruit market turned theatre and arts district where apartheid-era audiences defied segregation laws.