Iziko Museums, Museum network in Cape Town, South Africa

Iziko Museums is an agency of South Africa's Department of Arts and Culture governing 11 national museums in greater Cape Town, formed in 1998 by amalgamating five Western Cape institutions and renamed Iziko in 2001. Its name comes from the isiXhosa word iziko, meaning "hearth", the social centre of the home. Member museums include the South African Museum with its planetarium, the South African National Gallery, the Slave Lodge, Bo-Kaap Museum, Groot Constantia Manor House and the William Fehr Collection at the Castle of Good Hope.

The South African Museum was founded in 1825 as the first museum in South Africa, relocating to the Company's Garden in 1897. This early establishment shaped the city's cultural life and made it a center for preserving and sharing knowledge.

The collection reflects South African heritage through artworks and objects representing the continent's diversity. Visitors encounter works by local and international artists that share different perspectives and stories about the region.

Iziko's 11 museums are scattered across central Cape Town, so check each venue's location before setting out; several sit around the Company's Garden, while the William Fehr Collection is inside the Castle of Good Hope and the Bo-Kaap Museum is in the Bo-Kaap quarter. The Maritime Centre, formerly aboard the decommissioned SAS Somerset at the V&A Waterfront, closed after the ship was slated for scrapping in April 2024.

The institution preserves a complete blue whale skeleton and a rare specimen of an extinct quagga foal. These objects rank among the most precious and least-known pieces in the collection.