The Cape Town City Hall is a beautifully proportioned Edwardian Italian Renaissance building, completed in 1905 in honey-coloured limestone from Bath. It faces the open space of the Grand Parade, where troops drilled in colonial times and where Mandela addressed the crowd on his release from prison.
The building is open to the public most weekdays, with the historic Mandela balcony preserved as a small free exhibition. The hall houses the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the city's main concert halls. A short visit takes thirty minutes, longer if you take in a concert.