The former principal thoroughfare, Church Street, was converted in 1990 into one of the most attractive pedestrian shopping malls in South Africa. It features fountains and a bandstand and is a delight for visitors with a variety of shops and attractive buildings.
Shuter and Shooter:
This strangely named bookshop, one of the best known and with the most character in the country. The premises was Gray’s Inn during those aimost forgotten years.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Statue
This statue was unveiled in the Pietermaritzburg Mall on 6 June 1993 to commemorate the centenary of Gandhi’s experience at the Pietermaritzburg railway station when he was ejected from a first-class train carriage because he was an Indian. The incident led him to develop his political strategy of “Satyagraha” (passive resistance). The statue faces east with its back to the station.
Widow Retiefs House
A small, single storey building, on the right of Edgars is the former house of Piet Retiefs widow, where she ran a bakery. The oven she used can still be seen inside the building that is now occupied by a firm of solicitors. It was built in 1840 but only part of the original house still remains.
