Do you know Troyeville? Well I didn´t up until a week ago but I LOVE Joburg and all it´s different and varied suburbs, people and buildings. Since I didn´t grow up here I am on a constant mission of discovery! I was super excited when I got the chance to go on walk through this interesting neighbourhood. I wanted to give you lots and lots of details which we were given by our so very knowledgeable guide but I am firstly really bad at remembering facts and figures and secondly, I was so busy running around taking photographs, surprise surprise, that I must admit, I missed some of it. When I then tried to consult the internet after returning home, I had to realise that the internet doesn´t give a lot of information on it. Apart from the Troyeville Hotel, where we rested our weary legs after the walk and had some very scrumptious Portuguese fare, which has its own website there is really not much to find. It´s a great pity because it is such an interesting neighbourhood.
Well, to start off with, it’s located right by Ellis Park.
And now, trying to dig deep into my sketchy memory…
It is one of the oldest suburbs of Johannesburg and many well-known people lived here at some stage. Even Ghandi stayed here at the beginning of the last century. His old house is now a national monument and, from what I gather of reading on the City of Joburg website, it is apparently for sale. It must have been very interesting to live here and probably still is. It is such a mix of cultures, lots of art, and many, many churches – aparently it has the highest number of churches per square kilometre in South Africa.
What a mix of people as well… they were very interesting and so friendly!
The activist David Webster lived and was also assassinated in Troyeville. A park has been named after him and has been cleaned up and re-vamped for the soccer worldcup. As far as I know there was a fan park here, too.
There are a few art galleries to be found and they are all worth a visit. These images were taken at Spaza Art Gallery:
It is most definitely a busy, vibey area and I loved every minute there. Even though I felt really completely safe walking around, it´s probably advisable not to go by yourself but in a group of people. It´s much more fun anyway. I joined a group who organise walks on a regular basis, they call themselves The Weekend Culture Club and you can join their group on facebook if this is something that interests you. I can only recommend it!
No Comments