The Sultan's Palace is one of the main historical buildings of 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 is a 3-story building with

merlon A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

-decorated white walls, located in Mizingani Road, on the seafront, between the House of Wonders and the Old Dispensary. It stands on the site of the previous palace, called Bait As-Sahel

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: بيت الساحل) that was destroyed in the Anglo Zanzibar war of 1896.Sultan's Palace Zanzibar, Tanzania
archnet.org (Website about architecture in Islamic sovieties, run by Agha Khan Trust), lookup in March 2021 , The present palace was built in late 19th century to serve as a residence for the Sultan's family. After the

Zanzibar Revolution The Zanzibar Revolution () occurred in January 1964 and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government by local Africans. Zanzibar was an ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east co ...

, in 1964 it was formally renamed to ''People's Palace'' and used as a government seat. In 1994, it became a museum about the Zanzibari royal family and history. One floor of the museum is dedicated to Sultan Sir Khalifa bin Harub; another one to Sayyida Salme, best known as Emily Ruete, former Zanzibari princess who fled from the sultanate to relocate in Europe with her husband; the exhibits include some of her writings, clothes and daily life accessories. Several of the furniture items and other belongings to the sultan's family are in exhibition to give visitors an idea of how was the life in Zanzibar during the 19th century.

References

Buildings and structures in Zanzibar Swahili architecture Zanzibar City Museums established in 1994 Tourist attractions in Zanzibar 1994 establishments in Tanzania Museums in Zanzibar {{tanzania-struct-stub

See also

References