History Of Zanzibar Doors

History of zanzibar doors.
History of zanzibar doors. Designs emanate from arabic and indian influences. See more ideas about zanzibar stone town beautiful doors. They are square like the houses and feature geometric designs. The next were the persians who began to land.
Apr 11 2018 explore soud ali s board zanzibar door on pinterest. Unguja offered a protected and defensible harbor so although the archipelago had few products of value omanis and yemenis settled in what became zanzibar. From burmese teak to mahogany and black wood the oldest indian inspired doors in stone town are made from burmese teak imported all the way across the indian ocean. The sheer number of them in stone town has given them the name zanzibar doors.
History properly starts when the islands became a base for traders voyaging between the african great lakes the somali peninsula the arabian peninsula iran and the indian subcontinent. The newer doors dating primarily to the late 19 th century reflect indian influence and have arched tops and floral designs. Zanzibar doors intriguing pieces of history in stone town the zanzibar doors are a key talking point when you visit the island. In stone town zanzibar there were 806 wooden doors dating from the era of sultan barghash 1870 1880.
The arab influence is seen in the older doors. Especially prevalent in the stone town district of zanzibar are extant examples of massive elaborately carved wooden doors that adorned the front entrances of grand buildings. The first immigrants were the africans. After burmese teak was no longer available the east african teak was used instead until it was getting hard to find as well.
For the powerful merchants who established control along the swahili coast of east africa in the nineteenth century doors held great meaning. When you stroll through the crumbling streets of stone town your impression may flit between two trains of thought. The rectangular arab door is encased in an intricately carved frame with the outermost strip of the frame carved into chains symbolic of the enslavement of evil spirits trying to enter the.