A visit to Stone Town

Stone Town is the old capital of Zanzibar and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spending some time wandering around is something which many tourists do when they visit the island and we were no different. We chose to ask our hotel to arrange for a guide to take us around and explain to us what we were seeing.

It is as pretty, interesting; rambling; and unusual as most old towns. However what is does have, we thought was rather nice and have not seen elsewhere, was many old doors. In fact historically it was known for its doors and years ago there were about 800 doors of note, but now only about 200 are left. There are very good websites giving far more information about the doors than I intend to write here and here.

We started our tour in some gardens adjacent to the sea in front of the House of Wonders.

The fishing boats moored in the harbour showed both a rudimentary design and nice faded colours. 

House of Wonders

The nearby House of Wonders was built in 1883 by Sultan Barghash bin Said as a palace and got its name because it was the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity and also the first in East Africa to have a lift. It was connected to two adjacent palaces and this allowed females to move between the palaces without being seen. Now it is a dusty museum housing art and artefacts spread over much of Zanzibar’s history.

As you climb the grand stairs to the first floor, you are surrounded by large portraits of previous rulers including Sultan Barghash bib Said.

On this floor were a number of rooms displaying furniture from different periods. This room had British Imperial furniture (the Royal Insignia are on the throne)

and also a picture of the Queen presented to a Sultan on her Coronation in 1952.

Extra rooms were added to the palace in the 1930s to enable the Sultan to sleep with one of his wives and contain this “Sultan Sized Bed"

and an ebony Love Seat surrounded boy local furniture with intricate carvings.

One of the later Sultans had a thing for Formica Furniture and so there are a number of pieces scattered around the museum of a design and style we remember from our early childhoods.

It was here that we got a foretaste of the carvings to come with this lovely elaborate door surround.

  

Like most of the best “old towns”, Stone Town is full of picturesque alleyways with colour and atmosphere. 

 

I particularly liked the faded blue on this building.

 

It is said that the more ornate the carving, the wealthier the owner. This carved balcony is on the first floor of what is now the Spice Hotel,

and this was on a less elegant building near the market place.

I could not work out what this carving portrayed but it was at the bottom of a pillar on a ruined building next to the House of Wonders.

 

The manhole covers have a nice engraving on them featuring aspects of Zanzibar history and culture.

The Doors of Stone Town

The Doors of Stone Town are famous for their variety, craftsmanship and simple beauty.

 

Doors are usually fitted into one of a number of design families but I start with a door which does not fit into any of the families because it was the Cathedral front door, shaped perhaps a bit like a Bishop’s Mitre.

  

Turning to door families, doors with Brass Studs on them are Indian because in India, the studs protect the doors from elephants trying to push through with their heads.

  

Another aspect of Indian doors is that they have an arched framed above the door. The door on the right has a padlock chain attached to the door and the step. We were told this was evidence of a Royal connection to the building.

  

Arabic Doors are usually rectangular

  

Usually private house doors would have only one side open.

The door frames portrayed intricate carving often showing chains around the edge (a historical reference)

  

and sometimes include quotations from the Koran.

Merchant Doors were usually double doors with both sides open at the same time. There is no one place where doors will be found, they are scattered throughout the old town.

Stone Town Market

The main market in Stone Town was built by the British and opened in 1904. 

As is usually the case, the market was full of fresh vegetables, spices, meat and fish plus noise and atmosphere.

The fish on display was certainly fresh but to a vegetarian and a Scuba Diver, 

seeing some of the fish on display

was a bit distressing. 

None of it was on ice and therefore it was catch it, buy it and eat it within a very short period of time before it would go off.

  

The smell in the meat hall was unforgettable !

The Slave Trade

Zanzibar played a key role in the slave trade and when we were there, we felt that it was important to learn about its history and impact.

The City Cathedral is built on the site of the former slave market. Incidentally we got a very strong impression that the island copes peacefully with a variety of religions with Islam as the predominant religion.

To get into the Cathedral / Slave Market we first went through an area where the slave trade (both historical and current) was described in detail. Back in the early 1800s, the original traders were from the Gulf Region and many of the local suppliers of slaves were local chiefs who would sell anyone they could capture into slavery.

The inside of the Cathedral is cool and quiet, complete with an Organ.

In front of the High Altar is a round spot said to be the exact position where a whipping post was positioned in the slave market.

Next to it is a crucifix made from wood from the tree under which David Livingstone’s heart was buried in present day Zambia. 

Just outside of the Cathedral are a set of statues which describe the slave trade very powerfully.

We thought they were remarkable images 

which said far more than words could.

Slavery on the island was forcibly abolished by the British in 1873 following a threat by the British of a total blockade of Zanzibar unless the ruling sultan closed all slave markets, liberated all slaves and protected them. Reluctantly, he agreed.

Hindu Temple

We also visited a Hindu Temple which was tucked away up a side street.It was typical of such temples and we were welcomed in by those who were there.

The door frame showed evidence of the local skill in carving

and above the door were dried Mango leaves which an old tradition says help to ward off evil spirits or negative energy.

The temple inside was in the standard format and colours

with a number of gods present including Ganesha (the Elephant God)

and Kamadhenu whom I have not met before - a divine bovine goddess described as the "mother of all cows”.

Freddie Mercury’s House

I shall end this blog entry where we ended our walk - at what is said to have been Freddie Mercury’s House.

Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar and (it is said) lived here until he was 8 when he moved to go to school in India.

 He came back here briefly in 1962 and migrated to the UK in 1964. The rest is history.

Here we came across two hot and tired travellers who were impressed with Stone Town 

and were looking forward to a well earned rest back at Breezes.