The Noon Gun

Signal Hill separates the suburbs of Green Point and Sea Point from the City Bowl. One can access this extension of Lion's Head mountain from town via Kloof Nek road. Turn right at the traffic circle. From the access road you can already enjoy the most stunning view of the city, Table Bay and Table Mountain. You'll find a beautiful picnic spot on top. Breathtaking are the sunsets over the Atlantic and the lights of the night city.

Signal Hill's main attraction is the battery with the Noon Gun positioned just below the mountain top. Here a cannon-shot is fired every day at 12 o'clock noon on the dot, to uphold an old Capetonian tradition. Then all people in the city look at their watches and smile.

An officer of the Lion's Battery hurries some minutes before 12 with a little powder bag to the Noon Gun and pushes the bag carefully into the cannon-barrel. Everybody steps back behind a white line for cover and the cannon gets automatically ignited by an electronic signal sent by the Cape Town Observatory in the suburb of Observatory. There are many more cannons in the battery for official visitors, and on special occasions, up to 21 shot salute can be fired.

The access to the Noon Gun doesn't go via Kloof Nek, but through the Bo Kaap (Military Street). Watch out for the sign-post on Buitengracht Street. The show is for free!