Arts, Culture & Heritage
X-twitter Facebook Instagram
Blue Plaque Sites

Avalon Cemetery

Table of Contents

About Avalon Cemetery

Developed in cooperation with the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.

Address

Avalon Cemetery, Tshabuse Street, Chiawelo, Soweto
19 September 2023

Inscription

AVALON CEMETERY Opened in 1972, Avalon holds more than 300 000 graves, the largest number of any cemetery in South Africa. The HeroesÕ Acre honours a great many struggle heroes and victims of the June 1976 Student Uprising. In 2010, the shared grave of activists Lilian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph was declared a National Heritage Site. Near the railway line, the Mendi Memorial commemorates over 600 black soldiers who died at sea during World War 1.

Photo courtesy: Kabelo Mokoena (Sunday Times)

Explore Joburg

A culmination of research gathered over many years, the Online Johannesburg Heritage Register is being launched on Nelson Mandela Day 18 July 2025.

Among the many heritage sites featured is Chancellor House, the downtown offices of Mandela and Tambo Attorneys in the 1950s. After having been vacant and shuttered for more than a decade, this iconic building is being revived and brought to life once again as offices for the Community Development Department, which oversees the City’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Services.

Browse Heritage Sites