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The Heart of Cape Town Museum, Cape Town Central

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The Heart of Cape Town Museum

Groote Schuur Hospital, Main Road, Cape Town Central 7925, South Africa
++27 21 404 1967
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The attractive Groote Schuur hospital & museum's entrance
14 visitor photos
Ranked #13 of 93 attractions in Cape Town Central
4.5 of 5 stars 29 Reviews
Type: Museums
Owner description: Experience the drama of the world’s first human heart transplant performed by Prof. Chris Barnard in 1967 in the fully restored operating theatres... more » Owner description: Experience the drama of the world’s first human heart transplant performed by Prof. Chris Barnard in 1967 in the fully restored operating theatres where the surgery took place. The fascinating and very emotional stories of the donor, recipient and medical team involved are told on a fully guided, 2 hour tour with the help of life sized silicone models and replicas of important scenes. Certainly an experience not to be missed! « less
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29 reviews from our community

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Kingswinford
Contributor
13 reviews 13 reviews
4 attraction reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
“A trip to Cape Town must include this museum”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed May 17, 2013 NEW

At first I didn't wont to visit this museum the thought of operating theater put me off bit how wrong I was it brought back memories of the day that operation was performed.now a day in history The museum is set up in the actual operating theater you get the feel of what is must have been like. The film... More

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Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
“Wish I have more time”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 7, 2013

Well put together. Much to see and study. Would like to go again and allow more time to see everything.

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See 3 more reviews by k_sedore for Cape Town Central
Cape Town
Senior Reviewer
10 reviews 10 reviews
4 attraction reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“Thoroughly enjoyable”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 28, 2013

My visit to the heart of Cape Town museum was by chance and only because it was raining, however it was a thoroughly enjoyable and something I recommend to anyone visiting Cape Town whatever the weather! We did the 2 hour tour with Allan Korsman. It was fascinating. The museum itself is brilliantly set up in the actual rooms that... More

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Cape Town
Contributor
12 reviews 12 reviews
8 attraction reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
“Nicely set up!!!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 17, 2013

The old theatre has been changed into a museum. And the whole tour (of 2 hours) will give you a great overview of what lead up to the first successful heart transplant. Well worth a visit!!!

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See 6 more reviews by TouristGuideAlbert for Cape Town Central
Stirling, United Kingdom
Top Contributor
59 reviews 59 reviews
18 attraction reviews
Reviews in 14 cities Reviews in 14 cities
25 helpful votes 25 helpful votes
“First heart transplant by Christiaan Barnard”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 23, 2013 via mobile

Our hotel booked us on the 11am tour. There are tours at 9, 11 & 1. We took a taxi from our hotel in the centre of Cape Town and the journey took about 15-20 minutes. The tour lasts for 2 hours and it passes by really quicky. The tour starts with the accident in which Denise Darwal died and... More

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See 25 more reviews by Vazbo for Cape Town Central
Nairobi, Kenya
1 review
“Excellent Tour with a personal touch”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 15, 2013

We were pleasantly surprised on this tour! Its the most personal and detailed tour we have had in a long time. Even though we were just 2 people, the guide, Mr Korsman, tool his time and wnet to great lengths to show us around and interprete the sequence of events in context to what was happening in the world at... More

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LifeinHerault
Top Contributor
51 reviews 51 reviews
9 attraction reviews
Reviews in 34 cities Reviews in 34 cities
19 helpful votes 19 helpful votes
“An interesting and moving visit”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 8, 2013 via mobile

The thing to realise up-front is that this is a personal guided tour IN ENGLISH lasting about two hours - we were in a group of six. So do check on the starting times for the tours. If this is OK for you then you will have an interesting and moving experience and insight into this important event in medical... More

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See 5 more reviews by LifeinHerault for Cape Town Central
Tzaneen
Senior Reviewer
9 reviews 9 reviews
3 attraction reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Really interesting place to visit.”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 1, 2013

We were not sure if it would be interesting, but boy were we wrong !! It is really a great place to visit with incredible life-like scenes of how everything really happened. Not for the faint heartded, lots of very visual scenes. A must visit !!

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See 6 more reviews by Kallie3006 for Cape Town Central
Johannesburg, South Africa
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
3 attraction reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“cape town museum a must”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed February 22, 2013

the gardens with the animals around you...the dam with the fishes in it, the museum with the most extraordinary fossils.. wow! what a treat!!

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See 3 more reviews by henry t for Cape Town Central
Pretoria
2 reviews
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“An absolutely amazing small museum”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed February 20, 2013

Our family visits many museums but this is the most memorable of all. The tour was gripping and gave an excellent in-depth history of the events, facts and characters involved. Two years later we are still talking about it!

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The Heart of Cape Town Museum
Groote Schuur Hospital, Main Road
Cape Town Central 7925
South Africa
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