Property

South Africa’s R1.6 billion little Italy with its own shopping mall, hotels and theatre

Kirsten Minnaar • 7 October 2026

Located in Fourways, Johannesburg, Montecasino is a R1.6 billion 26-hectare casino and entertainment complex designed to resemble an Italian village.

The development opened its doors in November 2000 and has since become one of Gauteng’s major entertainment destinations, attracting more than 9.3 million visitors a year.

Montecasino was designed by the American company Creative Kingdom and built by South African architects Bentel Associates International. The complex is owned by Tsogo Sun.

Named after Monte Cassino, a village near Rome in Italy, Montecasino was designed to resemble an old Tuscan village.

Its architecture and streets are intended to create an Italian setting in the middle of Fourways. Inside the main casino building, the ceiling has been painted to look like the sky.

The artwork changes from lighter tones on one side to darker tones on the other, which creates the appearance of moving through different times of day.

The development was designed to accommodate various activities that could be combined in a single location.

The complex includes shops, restaurants, conference and event facilities, entertainment venues, a bird garden and the casino itself.

Montecasino offers a range of dining options, which range from popular franchises to high-end restaurants. These include Col’Cacchio, Fireroom, Nando’s, The Hussar Grill and Nomad.

It also has four different hotels – The Palazzo, The Pivot Hotel, The Piazza Hotel, and the Hotel Perte.

The Palazzo hotel is also based on Italian architecture. Its design is inspired by the Palazzo Corsini, a 15th-century building in Italy.

The development has continued to evolve since it first opened, with new facilities added and its entertainment offering upgraded.

The R100 million theatre development

One of the biggest upgrades came in 2007, when Montecasino underwent a R260 million expansion.

The project added 42,000 m² to the development and included the construction of the Teatro, a new hotel, additional parking, and an outdoor entertainment area.

At a cost of R100 million, the Teatro can accommodate about 1,870 people and is South Africa’s largest theatre by seating capacity. The scale of this venue meant that its construction involved several large structural elements.

One of these was a 31.4-metre transverse beam supporting the theatre’s mezzanine level and the weight of the upper gallery.

A steel truss roof was also designed to limit outside noise, including aircraft and Highveld thunderstorms. The expansion added a four-storey, 179-room hotel and a 994-bay parking facility.

It also created the Montecasino Piazza, an outdoor space modelled on an Italian gathering place. The Piazza includes a bell tower and is surrounded by restaurants and hotel facilities.

The expansion project presented several construction challenges because the site included a stream that had to be redirected.

A stormwater culvert was built along the eastern and northern boundaries, with a wetland area created above it.

Construction also had to continue without interrupting access to the VIP parking area beneath the casino.

Despite these challenges, the Teatro opened in May 2007, hosting Disney’s The Lion King production.

Since then, it has continued to host world-class productions and to host both local and international celebrities, such as Trevor Noah and Janet Jackson.