Ditsong National Museum of Natural History

Formerly the Transvaal Museum, this natural history institution near Church Square holds one of the country's foremost collections of fossils, mammals, birds and geology. It is closely tied to research on early hominins from the nearby Cradle of Humankind, and the celebrated 'Mrs Ples' skull was studied here. Galleries display mounted animals, a whale hall and dioramas of southern African ecosystems. Founded in 1892, the museum occupies a stately early-twentieth-century building and remains an active research centre.