Robben Island Museum

Robben Island Museum

For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society.

During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs.

Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolise, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.

The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island

The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island opened to the public on Monday, December 3, 2001. All of Robben Island Museum�s old Quay 5 facilities have been relocated to the Nelson Mandela Gateway, situated in the Clock Tower Precinct at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. The Gateway, Robben Island Museum�s "front door", houses interactive multimedia exhibitions, an auditorium, boardrooms, a new Robben Island Museum shop, and Docks Restaurant. The Gateway is open every day, from 7.30am to 6pm. We look forward to welcoming you to our wonderful new space.

Contact Details

Telephone: +27-(0)21 4191300
Facsimile: +27-(0)21 4191057

Email address:
info@robben-island.org.za