WHERE TO VISIT IN TANZANIA
Stone Town In Zanzibar
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| Stone Town View from a seaside |
The Stone Town of Zanzibar is the Swahili coastal trading town among others in East Africa. the town retains its urban fabric and the townscape that contains fine buildings that reflect the culture and traditions of a particular society. the architecture brought together and elements of African culture, Arabic culture, Indian, and European over more than 1000 years.
The buildings of the Stone Town are made of ragstone and mangrove timber, set in a thick lime mortar, and plastered and lime-washed reflecting Swahili culture. The houses have long narrow rooms to open space, using a narrow corridor to reach the rooms, and are distinguished by wide verandahs and decorated interiors. the houses have simple ground-floor Swahili houses and narrow Indian shops along streets constructed around commercial space.
The buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries and include the Old Fort monuments built on the site of an earlier Portuguese church, a large ceremonial palace built by Sultan Barghash, and the Old Dispensary. Also includes St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, the residence of Tippu Tip the biggest slave trader, and Christ Church Anglican Cathedral memorializing the work of David Livingston in abolishing the slave trade and was built on the site as the last slave market.
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| St Joseph Roman Catholic Cathedral |
Furthermore, the town includes The old Malindi Mosque, the Jamat Khan built for the Ismailis, the Royal Cemetery, and the Hamamni and other Persian baths. These buildings form an exceptional urban settlement reflecting the longstanding trading activities between the African and Asian seaboards having a wind street pattern, large mansions facing the seafront, and open spaces. Stone Town is historically marked as the site where the slave trade was terminated.
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| the slave trade market in an Anglican Cathedral |
The Stone Town of Zanzibar is an outstanding material manifestation of cultural fusion and harmonization. Apart from Slavery, for many years there was seaborne trading between Asia and Africa, and this is illustrated in an attractive manner. This remains as one of the evident profs that Zanzibar has great symbolic importance in the abolition of slavery. This was one of the main slave-trading ports in East Africa and also the base from which ant-slavery started and conducted their campaign (for example) David Livingstone.
Protection and Management
The Town is Protected under the "Ancient Monument Act" of 1948 and it falls under Museum and Antiquity Department. The Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority (STCDA) was created in 1985 to coordinate and supervise all Master Plans Targeting the Town. The stone town is important to Zanzibar's Tourism development and the Buildings are subjected to development manifest. However, the absence of heritage promotion, clear policies on cultural tourism, and public space utilization could result in random development that could threaten its Value.
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