Palace Museum, Sultan palace museum in Stone Town, Tanzania.

The Palace Museum is a three-story building in Stone Town that displays restored rooms filled with period furniture, thrones, and royal portraits. The collection documents the daily life and governance of the sultanate across different eras.

The building was constructed in 1890 as a royal residence for the sultan's family on the waterfront. Following the 1964 revolution, it was repurposed as the People's Palace and later converted into a museum in 1994.

One floor is devoted to Sultan Sir Khalifa bin Harub, another to Sayyida Salme, the princess who fled to Hamburg as Emily Ruete; her writings, clothes and everyday accessories are on show. Furniture and belongings of the sultan's family illustrate 19th-century life in Zanzibar.

The museum sits directly on Mizingani Road in the heart of Stone Town, easily reached on foot from the harbor area. It welcomes visitors daily, and you can spend a few hours exploring the different rooms and outdoor spaces.

The palace stands on the site of Bait As-Sahel, the earlier palace destroyed in the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, the brief conflict that ended with the bombardment of the old building. One floor of the museum is given over to Sayyida Salme, the princess who left Zanzibar for Hamburg as Emily Ruete; her writings, clothes and everyday accessories are on show.