Chavonnes Battery Museum
The Chavonnes Battery was a Dutch fort that guarded the entry to Cape Town for almost 150 years. It was built in the early 18th century 1714–1725. It is now a museum and function venue
Visitors are invited to try on an 18th Century tricorn hat and step below sea level for fascinating perspectives of the 17th to 19th Century Cape Town.
The story begins at a time of postal stones, shipwrecks, and isolation wards, soldiers and slaves, exiles and explorers, locals and settlers, and convicts.
At the museum, you can see the different types of canons, uniforms and touch walls that are still standing after three centuries, they were built from Table Mountain rock and granite and cemented with a mixture made by burning sea shells on Robben Island. The museum is housed in the foundation of the original fort. You can explore the archaeological excavation downstairs or visit the rotating exhibits on the ground floor.
- Meander between and over the Ruins of the Fort that has been buried for 140 years below sea level in the sand of the original Cape Town shoreline,
- You will find pottery and glass and objects displayed that were used by the people of the city long ago,
- There are Models of the shoreline & battery, with large graphic information panels for you to time-travel to what it looked like during the 17th and 18th Century,
- See the Rocket Lifesaving Apparatus used at the “Cape of Storms / Good Hope”,
- See Model Ships and Cannon displays with cannonballs and detailed models about how to fire a cannon and information about other Forts like The Castle of Good Hope.
You can find the Battery Museum at the Clock Tower Precinct, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
The Chavonnes Battery Museum is housed in the foundation of the 18th century Chavonnes Battery, a Dutch fort that once protected the harbor from would-be invaders. You can poke around the archaeological excavation downstairs or check out the rotating exhibits on the ground floor
