A city comes alive
A historic suburb of La Rochelle with its journey from residential area to the multicultural melting pot.
JOHANNESBURG south was the main attraction on June 24 when a fleet of heritage sites came alive as tourists came to view some of La Rochelle’s historic gems.
Tourists came in their numbers as Judith Muindisi of Tsica Heritage Consultants took the group on an unforgettable walk through the streets of enigmatic La Rochelle.
The walk through the city started at the Faraday Taxi Association building on the corner of Fifth Street and Johannesburg Street.
According to Muindisi the stops included a look into the popular Parreirinha restaurant – a former prison which was converted into a Portuguese restaurant in 1975. This was followed by a visit to the African fruit and vegetable market at Diaz Mall before visitors were taken to the historic wood and corrugated iron homes and shops dating back to the early 1900s.
The stroll included a visit to multicultural Johannesburg Road, La Rochelle’s High Street which is lined with Portuguese bakeries shops, Nigerian restaurants, churches and bars.
The tour ended back at the Faraday Taxi Association building where dishes of food were tasted.
Dishes included Egusi Soup, fried plantain, Jollof rice, pork and cabbage soup.
The tour is part of an initiative known as JoziWalks which takes patrons on historic tours around the city so they can enjoy architectural styles, the unique history of local foods and various immigrant cultures that have shaped the historic suburb of La Rochelle. The tour follows the neighborhood’s journey from being a residential area for Joburg’s first miners, to being the multicultural melting pot it is to date.
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