Newtown Pillars

Johannesburg


The massive concrete pillars holding up the M1 Highway in Newtown have become an outdoor art gallery, featuring ever-changing graffiti murals by some of South Africa's top street artists. Over the years, the graffiti has also spilled over onto the surrounding streets. The pillars are a popular spot for photoshoots, but do keep a close watch on your valuables in this area.

The neighbouring Newtown Junction shopping centre offers convenient and secure parking.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Johannesburg attractions

1. Museum Africa

0.09 MILES

This museum, housed in the old Bree St fruit market, offers a wide range of exhibitions on historical themes, including the Treason Trials of 1956–61, the…

2. Mary Fitzgerald Square

0.12 MILES

Named after South Africa’s first female trade unionist, this square is partly decorated with an array of heads, carved from old railway sleepers by…

3. Workers’ Museum

0.19 MILES

This important museum is in the restored Electricity Department’s compound, which was built in 1910 for 300-plus municipal workers and has been declared a…

4. Turbine Hall

0.27 MILES

An icon of the city's rebirth, this massive power station was refurbished in 2007 and now houses the impressive new headquarters of AngloGold Ashanti as…

5. Sci-Bono Discovery Centre

0.3 MILES

Testament to the remarkable reawakening of downtown Jo'burg, this well-organised science museum, full of interactive exhibitions, occupies a former power…

6. Nelson Mandela Bridge

0.38 MILES

Opened two days after Mandela’s 85th birthday in 2003, this cable-stayed bridge is the longest of its kind in Southern Africa and an icon of the…

7. Walter and Albertina Sisulu Statue

0.45 MILES

By Jo'burg artist Marina Walsh, this charming statue depicts larger-than-life versions of the Sisulus in their elder years, seated and facing each other…

8. Chancellor House

0.48 MILES

It was in this three-storey building that, in the 1950s, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo set up South Africa's first black-owned law firm. After a 2012…