Wagenaer's Reservoir, Sanlam Golden Acre-Cape Town

In the heart of the Mother City, Golden Acre Shopping Centre has been a key part of everyday life in Cape Town since 1979.
Built on the site of the original train station, the shopping centre forms an integral link between the CBD and its major public transport systems. This ancient aqueduct dates back to the 1600's. This ancient structure was originally built in 1663 to capture and supply water for the ships sailing around the Cape toward the Spice Islands. These ruins are located inside a shopping mall in Cape Town, called: 'Sanlam's Golden Acre', where the ruins happened to be unearthed in 1975 during the building of the complex. They have been preserved right where they were found and have been declared a National Monument.

When Jan van Riebeeck arrived at the Cape in 1652 he had a dam dug to supply water to sailing ships. This proved unsatisfactory, and in 1663 the Here XVII, or Board of Directors of the Dutch East India Company,(VOC), instructed Zacharias Wagenaer, the only German Governor of the Dutch East India Company, to build a reservoir to improve the water-supply. A part of this reservoirs' and later structures built in the area were discovered during the building operations (of the Golden Acre Mall Complex) in 1975. The ruins were excavated by the South African Museum. They are the oldest remaining Dutch structures in South Africa.