ZANZIBAR
: Stone Town
Stone Town on the island of Zanzibar is redolent of the mixed cultures of
traders visiting the Swahili coast of Africa. Its tall, tightly packed
houses characterised by wooden balconies and carved doors reflect a fusion
of Indian and Arab architecture. Two outstanding monuments are the Old
Dispensary, which was built in honour of the Golden Jubilee of Queen
Victoria, the`House of Wonders`dating from 1883 and said to be the first
building in East Africa to have an elevator and the Beit al-Sahel
palace-museum devoted to the era of the Zanzibar sultanate. Stone Town`s
population of some 16,000 is predominantly Muslim. Among some fifty mosques
are also two grand cathedrals - St Joseph`s Catholic cathedral and the
Anglican Cathedral of Christ. The latter on the site of the old slave market
contains a cross made from the mupundu tree in Zambia where porters buried
David Livingstone`s heart before carrying his body to the mission at
Bagamoyo on the north coast of Tanzania. Livingstone began his epic African
journey from Zanzibar. Like other buildings, his old house overlooks the
Indian Ocean where traditional lateen sail dhows still blow before the East
African trades. Another characteristic of local architecture is a mafraj
room at the top of the house where fanned by ocean breezes male members
drink tea. Stone Town was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2000.