House of Wonders, Architectural landmark in Stone Town, Tanzania
The House of Wonders is a white, three-storey building on Mizingani Road, between the Old Fort and the Palace Museum. Its main block has tiered verandas on slender cast-iron columns, with dark horizontal rails and beams, and a square clock tower at the left corner topped by a balustraded platform with a cross. A white metal fence with central steps runs along the base.
Sultan Barghash bin Said had the palace completed in 1883 as a ceremonial reception hall. It was the first building in Zanzibar with electricity and the first in East Africa with an elevator. A British marine engineer is credited with its design, which introduced wide cast-iron verandas to local architecture. After the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27 August 1896, a clock tower was added during the 1897 reconstruction.
The interior displays objects that show how Swahili people fished, sailed, and lived along the coasts through the centuries. Walking through the rooms, you see portraits of local leaders and maritime treasures that reveal the island's deep connection to the ocean.
The building has been closed since 2012, when parts of the veranda collapsed, and the museum moved elsewhere; the clock tower partly fell in December 2020. Check locally before planning a visit. The two 16th-century Portuguese bronze cannons at the entrance remain a visible detail from Mizingani Road.
The main door was made wide enough for Sultan Barghash bin Said to ride an elephant through it, and he kept wild animals chained in front of the palace for display. The two 16th-century bronze cannons at the entrance were taken by the Persians in 1622 and later given to the Sultans of Oman; the larger one bears the emblem of King John III of Portugal.
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