User:Madshaun/St George's Mall Street

St George’s Mall is a pedestrianised street in the central business district of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. The mall has some of Cape Town’s most notable buildings and attractions in close proximity such as the South African Reserve Bank Building, St George's Cathedral, The Mandela Rhodes Place and the five-star  Taj Hotel Cape Town. St George’s Mall runs parallel to Adderley Street, is around 700 metres long and runs from St George’s Cathedral on Wale Street to Thibault Square in Foreshore crossing several major city streets, namely Strand Street and Riebeeck Street.

St George’s Mall was first known as Berg Street prior to 1830 after which it was re-named to St George’s Street after the St George’s Cathedral at the top of the street. It was a major congested city road and was closed to traffic and pedestrianised in 1992. Today, St George’s Mall is a vibrant city space with buskers, stalls, shops and restaurants. The mall is thus popular over lunchtime and become one of the busiest shopping districts in the central business district of Cape Town.

History
Houses were built on present day St Georges Mall from as early as 1693. Until 1830, St George’s Mall was known by the name of Eerste Berg Dwars Straat (First Mountain Cross street), which was later shortened to Berg Street. Berg Street had been one of the first streets of the Cape settlement linking the seafront and the gardens. In 1830, the foundation stone was laid for the St George’s Church at the top of Berg Street and subsequently the name of Berg Street was switched to St George’s Street. The street gained a reputation as the most desirable residential road for the settlement’s burghers (citizens) until the early nineteenth century, when it developed into a financial and commercial street.

By the end of the century several newspapers had their headquarters on St George’s Street and it was nicknamed Cape Town’s Fleet Street. St George’s Mall still holds the Cape Town offices of the Independent News and Media, owners of the Cape Argus and Cape Times, in Newspaper House at 122 St Georges Mall. These offices, however, is set to relocate elsewhere in the near future. In 1992, the street was closed to traffic and gradually turned into a pedestrian-only walkway, significantly changing the character of Cape Town’s central business district.

Notable Landmarks
Most of central Cape Town’s biggest attractions are within walking distance of St George’s Mall such as Adderley Street, Company's Garden, the Houses of Parliament, Greenmarket Square,  Long Street, Iziko South African Museum, the Slave Lodge, the National Library of South Africa and the Cape Town International Convention Centre. There are several notable Cape Town landmarks and attractions located along St George’s Mall, these include:


 * The Taj Cape Town Hotel

The Taj Cape Town Hotel is located in the renovated Old Reserve Bank and Board of Executors Buildings on the corner of St George’s Mall and Wale Street. The hotel was the site of a hospital in the eighteenth century which was later demolished. Following the purchase of the site, the Reserve Bank completed construction of the building in 1932. Designed by architect James Morris in the neoclassic architectural style, the building is modelled on the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy. The buildings were later acquired and renovated by the Taj Hotel Group in a joint venture and opened its doors in 2010.


 * ABSA Centre

The ABSA Centre is a concrete and aluminium skyscraper located at 25 St George’s Mall and 2 Riebeeck Street. At 34 storeys and 117 metres it is one of the tallest buildings in central Cape Town. Completed in 1970, it was the first building in Cape Town to use a continuous glass curtain wall. The tower houses offices, a hotel, a bank and retail stores at ground level. A bar, restaurant and night club is on the top floor of the building.


 * Mandela Rhodes Place

Located at 150 St George’s Mall, the Mandela Rhodes Place is a mixed-use development comprising several buildings and a 22 storey tower housing residential condominiums, a gymnasium, restaurant and bar, as well as a hotel and spa. The development, located in a historic part of Cape Town, is reported to have cost up to R1 billion.


 * Bishop Gray Monument

At 150 St George’s Mall is the Bishop Gray Monument, erected in honour of the first Anglican  Bishop of Cape Town,  Robert Gray (3 October 1809 – 1 September 1872).


 * Piece of the Berlin Wall

A large chunk of the Berlin Wall given to former South African President Nelson Mandela has been placed on St George’s Mall near the Bishop Gray Monument. The piece of the wall was given to Mandela on a state visit to Germany in 1996 and was initially placed at the BMW Pavilion on Cape Town’s Waterfront and later moved to its current position at 150 St George’s Mall.


 * Shopping District

St George’s Mall is one of Cape Town’s busiest shopping districts and is lined by numerous flagship department stores, bookstores,  jewellery stores, and a fresh produce market. The mall is home to department stores such as Edgars,  Woolworths, Foschini and Truworths, and bookstores such as CNA and other novelty book shops. A fresh produce market is on upper St George’s Mall selling a wide variety of produce including, smoked fish, specialty sausages, farm cheeses, fruit, vegetables, organic nuts and grains, and breads.

St George’s Mall has been described as Cape Town’s jewellery route because of the many jewellery stores found along its length. All major South African banks have several branches along the street as well. From the top to the bottom at Thibault Square the street is lined with street cafe's, coffee shops and restaurants which are usually at their busiest at lunchtime. Buskers and traditional African dancers usually perform at various points along St Georges Mall providing entertainment to locals and tourists during lunchtime.

There is a myriad of stalls along the street offering anything from African curios and art to flowers. Several art galleries and local clothing boutique outlets are also scattered along St George’s Mall. The world-renowned Michaelis Art Collection is located off St George’s Mall on Greenmarket Square in the Old Town House built in 1755. It is a collection of Flemish and Dutch Art from the seventeenth century Golden Age.

St George’s Mall is connected to Cape Town Railway Station and the nearby Golden Acre shopping centre by underground concourses with more shops and stores and is sometimes used by locals to avoid the busy city streets.

Public Transport
As a compact pedestrian zone, St George’s Mall can easily be traversed by foot. Public transport, however, is in close proximity with the Cape Town Railway Station, central bus terminus and taxi rank within easy walking distance. The City of Cape Town’s Integrated Rapid Transit System, called MyCiti, has a stop on St George’s Mall at Strand Street. The bus service runs in a loop around Cape Town’s inner city and connects to its central terminal at the Cape Town Civic Centre from where further connections to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Town’s West Coast Suburbs can be made.