# Cape Town (ZA), Wale Street -- 2024 -- 3544

- By: Dietmar Rabich
- Date: Taken on 2 March 2024, 10:10
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_Town_(ZA),_Wale_Street_--_2024_--_3544.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/b/b2/Cape_Town_%28ZA%29%2C_Wale_Street_--_2024_--_3544.jpg/1920px-Cape_Town_%28ZA%29%2C_Wale_Street_--_2024_--_3544.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Colorful houses in Wale Street, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Bo-Kaap is a historic neighborhood above the center of Cape Town. It was established in the 18th century when the Dutch colonial administration built houses for enslaved people from Southeast Asia, India, and East Africa. Many of them were Muslims and later became known as “Cape Malays”. After their liberation in the 19th century, Bo-Kaap developed into a center of Islamic culture in the Cape. Mosques such as the Auwal Mosque from 1794 bear witness to this tradition. The colourfully painted houses, originally an expression of newly won freedom, now characterise the image of the neighbourhood. Despite gentrification, Bo-Kaap remains an important symbol of cultural heritage and resilience in South Africa.