Iziko Slave Lodge, Cape Town

The Slave Lodge, dating back to 1679, is one of the oldest structures in Cape Town. It originally housed slaves of the Dutch East India Company, criminals, and the mentally disturbed. Over the years its function changed, as did its exterior. Today it is the flagship of the six South African Cultural History Museum sites, housing collections of ceramics, toys, tools, silver and textiles, as well as artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Near and Far East. Other exhibits focus on the history of the Cape in general.