Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Auwal Mosque / Owal Masjid Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, Western Cape

Date: 1809-1814 Type: Mosque Style: Eclecticism : Islamic Traditionalist Status: Extant but altered Street: 39 Dorp Street   Click to view map Coordinates: 33°55'20.20" S 18°24'53.62" E Alt: 46m

This is the first and oldest mosque in South Africa, as indicated by the meaning of its name. Auwal means "first" in Arabic. The property on which it stands was through legacy of ownership by the Free Black Coridon van Bengalen to Saartjie van de Kaap in whose name the title is still registered even today. The mosque has been altered and enlarged on several occasions over the years and retains few of its original features. Books that reference Auwal Mosque / Owal Masjid Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pg 12, 14, 57, 59, 65, 69, 71, 77, 89, 92, 93-112, 114-117, 127, 129, 130, 132, 138, 142 Fransen, Hans. 2004. The old buildings of the Cape. A survey of extant architecture from before c1910 in the area of Cape Town - Calvinia - Colesberg - Uitenhage. Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. pg 55 Gaylard, Shaun & McDougall, Brett . 2022. RSA 365 : 365 Drawings of South African Architecture. Johannesburg: Blank Ink Design. pg 25 ill