Christ Church is an Anglican cathedral in Stone Town,

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. It belongs to the

Anglican Church of Tanzania The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses (27 on the Tanzanian mainland, and 1 on Zanzibar) headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East A ...

. It is a landmark historical church, as well as one of the most prominent examples of early Christian architecture in East Africa. It was built in seven years, the foundation stone being laid on Christmas Day 1873 until the opening on Christmas 1879, based on a vision of

Edward Steere Edward Steere (1828 – 26 August 1882) was an English Anglican colonial bishop in the 19th century. Life Steere was educated at London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a ...

, third Anglican

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Zanzibar, who actively contributed to the design. As most buildings in Stone Town, it is made mostly of coral stone. It has a unique concrete roof shaped in an unusual barrel vault (that was Steere's idea) and the overall structure mixes Perpendicular Gothic and Islamic details.The Cathedral
The cathedral was consecrated in 1903 and named after Canterbury Cathedral. The church is located in Mkunazini Road, in the centre of the old town, and occupies a large area where the biggest

slave market A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets became a key phenomenon in the history of slavery. Slave markets in the Ottoman Empire In the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century, slaves were traded in special ...

of Zanzibar used to be; the construction of the cathedral was in fact intended to celebrate the end of slavery. The altar is said to be in the exact place where the main "whipping post" of the market used to be. In the square there is a well-known monument to the slaves (a few human figures in chains emerging from a pit) as well as a museum on slavery. Edward Steere died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

when the cathedral was almost completed, and was buried behind the altar. Inside the church there is a cross that was made from the wood of the tree that grows on the place where

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

's heart was buried, in

Chitambo The Livingstone Memorial, built in 1899, marks the spot where missionary explorer David Livingstone died on 1 May 1873, in Chief Chitambo's village at Chipundu (today in Chitambo District), near the edge of the Bangweulu Swamps in Zambia. His body ...

.Saint Monica's Tours
As many other historical coral-stone buildings in Stone Town, the Cathedral experiences decay and structural problems and needs restoring. The cathedral is linked with Ely Cathedral, in the diocese of Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK.

Notes

External links

Information on the restoration of the cathedral in 2014–15
Anglican cathedrals in Tanzania Religious buildings and structures in Zanzibar Churches completed in 1879 {{Anglican-church-stub