Greenmarket Square is Cape Town's oldest public square — a cobblestoned plaza in the city centre that has hosted a market since the 18th century and now operates as a daily open-air craft market where vendors from across Africa sell carved wood, beadwork, textiles, wire art, and the eclectic range of handmade goods that make South African craft markets some of the most diverse shopping experiences on the continent.
The square is surrounded by some of Cape Town's finest colonial-era buildings — the Old Town House (1755), which served as the city's town hall until 1905 and now houses the Michaelis Collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, and the Art Deco Shell Building provide the architectural frame. The cafés along the square's edge serve South African coffee and the city's increasingly sophisticated food scene.
The market vendors are predominantly from West and Central Africa — Senegalese, Congolese, Zimbabwean, and Mozambican traders who have brought their craft traditions to Cape Town and adapted them for the tourist market. The quality ranges widely (bargaining is expected and is part of the social transaction), but the best vendors produce work of genuine artistic quality — Shona stone sculptures from Zimbabwe, Zulu beadwork, West African masks, and the recycled-material art (wire sculptures, tin art) that has become a distinctively South African craft genre.
Verified Facts
Greenmarket Square has hosted markets since the 18th century
The Old Town House dates to 1755 and houses the Michaelis Collection
Vendors come from across Africa including Senegal, Congo, and Zimbabwe
The square is Cape Town's oldest public square
Get walking directions
Greenmarket Square, Cape Town City Centre
