The doors of Stone Town, Zanzibar, chronicle the islands history.

 

In September 2012 Karen Patrick walked part of the Great Wall of China for Dementia Care.
 

Her story is related in her book 'Scaling the Dragon's Back' which is available from Amazon for Kindle, Barnes and Noble for Nook, on Kobo and on all other formats from theendlessbookcase.co.uk

Her book is sold in support of Dementia Care. 

The elaborate decoration of a building in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Built on the site of an old fishing village, Stone Town prospered during the 19^th Century, when it was an affluent and busy trading port most famously exporting the spice Cloves and more infamously slaves!  The importance of the islands trading activity attracted immigrants from the Middle East, Arabia and India.  It was during these years most of the buildings which can still be seen today were built.  In 1890 Zanzibar became a British protectorate.  So it was no surprise that I found Stone Town’s architecture a blend of Arab, Asian, African and European reflecting the islands history. 

The town is a maze of tall houses and narrow alleyways. Indian craftsmen added decoration to many of Stone Town's buildings adding wooden balconies, carved doors and stairways.  There are said to be 560 carved doors in Zanzibar.  These are carved out of hardwood and are of two main styles:

Example of an Arab door, Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Arab doors which are rectangular in shape, flat topped and elaborately decorated, they generally have a phrase from the Holy Koran on the top frieze above the door.  Slave trading was mainly the preserve of the Arab merchants, therefore chains carved in the doors are often seem on Arab houses and indicate that a slave trader once lived there. 

Example, Indian door, Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Indian doors are usually spotted by the domed arched top of the door frame, think the minarets of the Taj Mahal.  The doors have large brass studs jutting out of the panelling.  In India houses were protected in this way from attack by elephants, these large studs protecting the door preventing it from being charged down by war elephants from a different family clan.  Moving from India to Zanzibar the merchants continued with this traditional door design.  As  merchants from Gujarat in India usually traded in gold and jewellery the gold merchants often had doors strengthened for extra security with reinforced panels protecting the valuable contents to be found inside the house.

When houses were constructed, the door which was usually built first, indicated the wealth of the owner, the larger and more elaborate the front door the greater the status of the owner.  As people conducted their business from their home the door of a house acted like a business card for the owner.  Door symbols were used to show the owners trade and often some personal information about them.  

  

Pineapples were a sign of welcome; date palms a sign of wealth; fish a sign of a plentiful life; rosettes a symbol of prosperity; the number of flowers showed how many distinct family clans lived in the house; fish scales indicated a fisherman or fish trader; chains a slave trader / owner; vines a spice trader; geometric squares an accountant; beads a jeweler; fruit a farmer and a tiger showed someone of the Hindu faith lived in the house.

Freddie Mercury's family home, Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Perhaps Zanzibar’s most famous export was rock band Queen’s lead singer, the late great Freddie Mercury, real name Farouk Bulsara. Freddy was born on the island where his father worked for the British government.  My tour of Stone Town ended when I was taken to see the house where the Mercury family had lived during their years on the island.

This is the second of my blogs about Zanzibar following my visit to the island.  The first was published on 30^th June 2014 and titled ‘Zanzibar, the Indian Ocean ‘spice’ island haunted by its past and struggling with its present?’ http://kephr.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/zanzibar-indian-ocean-spice-island.html