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49-425: The annual multidisciplinary arts and cultural festival is ZIFF’s major activity; the festival is an all-arts affair, with 8 days of local and international discussion panels, workshops, 10 days of screenings of the best local and international cinema and evenings of musical concerts including a Gala each evening. All festival programs are a culmination of the realization of the capacity of film to fuse together

98-441: A handrail , coping , or ornamental detail is known as a balustrade . The term baluster shaft is used to describe forms such as a candlestick, upright furniture support, and the stem of a brass chandelier. The term banister (also bannister) refers to a baluster or to the system of balusters and handrail of a stairway. It may be used to include its supporting structures, such as a supporting newel post. According to

147-588: A railway from the Town to Bububu village. The British did not fund major developments in the town and allowed the sultan to manage the islands affairs from Stone Town. The British gave privileges to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam as their trading stations in East Africa. In 1964, Stone Town was the theatre of the Zanzibar Revolution , which brought about the removal of the sultan and the birth of

196-548: A socialist government led by the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). More than 20,000 people were killed and refugees, especially Arabs and Indians, escaped the island as a consequence of the revolution. The Arabs and Indians left behind everything they had and the ASP quickly occupied old homes and converted them into public buildings. In 1964, when Tanganyika and Zanzibar combined to form Tanzania , Stone Town kept its role as

245-537: A capital and government seat for Zanzibar, which was declared a semi-autonomous part of the new nation. Stone Town is located roughly in the middle of the west coast of Unguja , on a small promontory protruding into the Zanzibar Channel . The closest major settlement on the Tanzanian coast, opposite Stone Town, is Bagamoyo (to the south-west). Stone Town is part of Zanzibar City , which also includes

294-489: A development of the 18th century in Great Britain (see Coade stone ), and cast iron balusters a development largely of the 1840s. As balusters and balustrades have evolved, they can now be made from various materials with a few popular choices being timber, glass and stainless steel. The baluster, being a turned structure , tends to follow design precedents that were set in woodworking and ceramic practices, where

343-432: A number of distinctive features, as a result of Arab, Persian, Indian, European, and African traditions mixing together. The name "Stone Town" comes from the ubiquitous use of coral stone as the main construction material; this stone gives the town a characteristic, reddish warm colour. Traditional buildings have a baraza , a long stone bench along the outside walls; this is used as an elevated sidewalk if heavy rains make

392-466: A unified group of communities that developed into the first center of coastal maritime culture. The coastal towns, including those on Zanzibar, appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean trade at this early period. Trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity beginning in the mid-8th century and by the close of the 10th century Zanzibar was one of the central Swahili trading towns. Shangani,

441-490: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Stone Town Stonetown of Zanzibar ( Arabic : مدينة زنجبار الحجرية , romanized :  madīnat Zanjibār al-ḥajariyya ), also known as Mji Mkongwe ( Swahili for 'old town'), is the old part of Zanzibar City , the main city of Zanzibar , in Tanzania . The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo , Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town

490-635: Is accessible from within the town. However, on slightly wider roads historically bicycles and now most recently motor cycles are used to transport people and goods. The town is accessible from Zanzibar and the rest of the region through three possible ports of entry. The main form of public transport in Zanzibar are the daladala share taxis ; and the main station is located by the Darajani Market. Daladalas connect Stone Town to several island locations, such as Bububu (a village north of Stone Town),

539-657: Is located on the western coast of Unguja , the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago . Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate , and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the Indian Ocean slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form

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588-491: Is the peak tourist season due to beach tourism on the island. Balustrade A baluster ( / ˈ b æ l ə s t ər / ) is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe -turned form found in stairways , parapets , and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle . Common materials used in its construction are wood, stone, and less frequently metal and ceramic. A group of balusters supporting

637-547: The Oxford English Dictionary , "baluster" is derived through the French : balustre , from Italian : balaustro , from balaustra , "pomegranate flower" [from a resemblance to the swelling form of the half-open flower ( illustration, below right )], from Latin balaustrium , from Greek βαλαύστριον ( balaustrion ). The earliest examples of balusters are those shown in the bas-reliefs representing

686-592: The Anglo-Zanzibar War , which is remembered as the shortest war in history: the Sultan surrendered after 45 minutes of naval bombardment of Stone Town by the Royal Navy . During the period of British protection, the Sultan still retained some power and Stone Town remained a relatively important trading centre for the informal trade. Though the town previously had a small railway the British constructed

735-627: The Assyrian palaces, where they were employed as functional window balustrades and apparently had Ionic capitals. As an architectural element alone the balustrade did not seem to have been known to either the Greeks or the Romans , but baluster forms are familiar in the legs of chairs and tables represented in Roman bas-reliefs, where the original legs or the models for cast bronze ones were shaped on

784-510: The Red Fort of Agra and Delhi , in the early seventeenth century. Foliate baluster columns with naturalistic foliate capitals, unexampled in previous Indo-Islamic architecture according to Ebba Koch , rapidly became one of the most widely used forms of supporting shaft in Northern and Central India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The modern term baluster shaft is applied to

833-558: The Sultan's Palace were also built. In 1861, as a consequence of a war of succession within the Omani royal family, Zanzibar and Oman were separated, with Zanzibar becoming an independent sultanate under Sultan Majid bin Said . In the 19th century Stone Town flourished as a trading centre. It was especially renowned for the commerce of spices (mostly cloves ) and slaves . Around middle of

882-601: The United Republic of Tanzania , Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat. Stone Town is a city of prominent historical and artistic importance in East Africa . Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture , giving a unique mixture of Arab, Persian , Indian and European elements. For this reason,

931-511: The turner's lathe and the potter's wheel are ancient tools. The profile a baluster takes is often diagnostic of a particular style of architecture or furniture, and may offer a rough guide to date of a design, though not of a particular example. Some complicated Mannerist baluster forms can be read as a vase set upon another vase. The high shoulders and bold, rhythmic shapes of the Baroque vase and baluster forms are distinctly different from

980-628: The 'New City' of Ng'ambo ("the Other Side"), which mostly extends in the interior of Unguja to the south-east. The dividing line between Stone Town and Ng'ambo is Creek Road, later renamed to Benjamin Mkapa Road, marking the west side of the now reclaimed creek that separated them. The streets in Stone Town are very narrow and almost getting anywhere within the town must be done on foot. The narrow streets provide shade and almost everything

1029-515: The 16th century. Wittkower distinguished two types, one symmetrical in profile that inverted one bulbous vase-shape over another, separating them with a cushionlike torus or a concave ring, and the other a simple vase shape, whose employment by Michelangelo at the Campidoglio steps ( c 1546), noted by Wittkower, was preceded by very early vasiform balusters in a balustrade round the drum of Santa Maria delle Grazie ( c 1482), and railings in

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1078-536: The 1st and 3rd centuries, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , mentioned the island of Menuthias ( Ancient Greek : Μενουθιάς ), which is probably Unguja . Zanzibar, like the nearby coast, was settled by Bantu-speakers at the outset of the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani, on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at

1127-512: The Lamu Archipelago, provide the clearest picture of architectural development. Houses were originally built with timber (c. 1050) and later in mud with coral walls (c. 1150). The houses were continually rebuilt with more permanent materials. By the 13th century, houses were built with stone, and bonded with mud, and the 14th century saw the use of lime to bond stone. Only the wealthier patricians would have had stone and lime built houses,

1176-575: The Omani Arab style are rectangular. Carvings are often Islamic in content (for example, many consist of verses of the Qur'an ), but other symbolism is occasionally used, e.g., Indian lotus flowers as emblems of prosperity. Stone Town is punctuated with major historical buildings, several of which are found on the seafront; these include former palaces of the sultans, fortifications, churches, mosques, and other institutional buildings. While Stone Town

1225-622: The Portuguese were ousted by Zanzibaris and Pembans in the 17th century, local patricians invited the Sultan of Oman to wield political power in exchange for defense against Portuguese reprisals. Part of the Portuguese church was built into the Omani fort, which housed roughly fifty soldiers. The Sultan also appointed a local governor, but political authority was still largely vested in the Mwinyi Mkuu, at this time Queen Fatima . Excavations at nearby Pemba Island, but especially at Shanga in

1274-519: The airport, the Amaan Stadium , Jangombe, and Magomeni, Zanzibar . For longer trips, "mabasi" (Swahili for "bus", singular "basi") are available, which are trucks adapted for passenger transport. The main "mabasi" station is also close to the Market and the "mabasi" network stretch across the entire island and is the cheapest form of long-distance transit. The main Zanzibar island harbour is in

1323-480: The best of each art-form, offering a wide range of Entertainment, Educating and Networking options for world audiences. The festival is arguably the largest multidisciplinary art and cultural festival in Africa, and continues to lead as a tourist attraction event in the region. ZIFF now gives 12 International Awards presented by 5 International Juries. It is estimated that 7000 western tourists came to Zanzibar to attend

1372-685: The cathedrals of Aquileia ( c 1495) and Parma , in the cortile of San Damaso, Vatican, and Antonio da Sangallo 's crowning balustrade on the Santa Casa at Loreto installed in 1535, and liberally in his model for the Basilica of Saint Peter . Because of its low center of gravity , this "vase-baluster" may be given the modern term "dropped baluster". Balusters may be made of carved stone , cast stone , plaster , polymer , polyurethane / polystyrene , polyvinyl chloride (PVC), precast concrete , wood , or wrought iron . Cast-stone balusters were

1421-481: The century, the sultanate had a close relationship with the British; David Livingstone , for example, is known to have stayed in Stone Town in 1866 while he was preparing his final expedition into the interior of East Africa. In the same period, several immigrant communities from Oman , Persia and India formed as a consequence of the town's intense commercial activity. The Sultan of Zanzibar encouraged immigration of foreign traders who became very wealthy and settled in

1470-737: The city who brought diversity to the city's architecture. In the last decades of the century, the Sultans of Zanzibar gradually lost their possessions in mainland East Africa to the German Empire and the United Kingdom. In 1890, with the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty , Zanzibar itself became a British protectorate . In 1896, a sudden rebellion of the Zanzibari Omanis against the British rule led to

1519-638: The end of the 17th century the Sultanate of Oman took over the island and completed the fort to prevent future attacks. The first stone houses in Stone Town probably began to be built in the early 1800s, gradually replacing an earlier fishing village around the Old Fort . At the time the Sultanate of Oman controlled the Zanzibar Archipelago , Mombasa and the Swahili coast . In 1824, Sultan Said bin Sultan moved his seat from Muscat , Oman, to Stone Town, which thus entered an era of quick development as

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1568-480: The entire Zanzibar Archipelago experiences a similar climate throughout the year. The island has a hot tropical weather all year round with the hottest months being February and March and the cooler months being July and August. During most months of the year there is significant rainfall with a long rain season spanning from March–May and a shorter rain season from November–December. The lesser dry season occurs between December–February and May–August and consequently

1617-539: The festival and the total festival audience was in excess of 100,000 with wide appeal across race, class and religions. Its impact on the economy of Zanzibar is unquestionable. The ZIFF festival now runs 15 programs over the 10 days that include: During the festival, films are shown in Stone Town in Zanzibar City , as well as rural Zanzibari villages. This article about an African film festival

1666-485: The heart of Stone Town and regular ferries from Dar es Salaam and Pemba connect the town to the mainland. The town is also in close proximity to the Island's major airport. Zanzibar Airport , 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) south of Stone Town has flights to mainland Tanzania (especially Arusha and Dar es Salaam ) as well as other African main airports such as Nairobi , Mombasa , and Johannesburg . Stone Town along with

1715-455: The inventor of the baluster and credited Giuliano da Sangallo with using it consistently as early as the balustrade on the terrace and stairs at the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano ( c 1480), and used balustrades in his reconstructions of antique structures. Sangallo passed the motif to Bramante (his Tempietto , 1502) and Michelangelo , through whom balustrades gained wide currency in

1764-496: The latest. The considerable amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni and Dar es Salaam indicate

1813-629: The lathe, or in Antique marble candelabra, formed as a series of stacked bulbous and disc-shaped elements, both kinds of sources familiar to Quattrocento designers. The application to architecture was a feature of the early Renaissance architecture : late fifteenth-century examples are found in the balconies of palaces at Venice and Verona . These quattrocento balustrades are likely to be following yet-unidentified Gothic precedents . They form balustrades of colonettes as an alternative to miniature arcading. Rudolf Wittkower withheld judgement as to

1862-584: The new capital of the Sultanate of Oman and Zanzibar. With the British outlawing the slave trade in the Indian Ocean , the Sultanate's fortunes crashed. The Muscat economy was in shambles and many Omanis migrated to Zanzibar. The increase in the Arab population on the island facilitated further growth and more buildings began to spring up in the town. Furthermore, grand royal structures like the House of Wonders and

1911-459: The original fishing town that developed into Stone Town, was a small, largely unimportant Swahili site founded in the 11th century. Bigger towns at Unguja Ukuu , Kizimkazi , and Tumbatu were the island's powers from the 8th to the 16th century. The Portuguese built a church at Shangani in the early 16th century, and the Queen of northern Unguja had a house built there in the mid-17th century. When

1960-516: The seafront) have been done in recent times by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).   Sultanate of Kilwa before 1503 [REDACTED] Portuguese Empire 1503–1698 [REDACTED] Sultanate of Oman 1698–1856 [REDACTED] Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856–1890 [REDACTED] British Empire 1890–1963 [REDACTED] Republic of Zanzibar 1964 [REDACTED]   Tanzania 1964–present A Greco-Roman text between

2009-627: The shaft dividing a window in Saxon architecture. In the south transept of the Abbey in St Albans , England, are some of these shafts, supposed to have been taken from the old Saxon church. Norman bases and capitals have been added, together with plain cylindrical Norman shafts. Balusters are normally separated by at least the same measurement as the size of the square bottom section. Placing balusters too far apart diminishes their aesthetic appeal, and

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2058-667: The sixteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Modern baluster design is also in use for example in designs influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in a 1905 row of houses in Etchingham Park Road Finchley London England. Outside Europe, the baluster column appeared as a new motif in Mughal architecture , introduced in Shah Jahan 's interventions in two of the three great fortress-palaces,

2107-700: The sober baluster forms of Neoclassicism , which look to other precedents, like Greek amphoras . The distinctive twist-turned designs of balusters in oak and walnut English and Dutch seventeenth-century furniture, which took as their prototype the Solomonic column that was given prominence by Bernini , fell out of style after the 1710s. Once it had been taken from the lathe, a turned wood baluster could be split and applied to an architectural surface, or to one in which architectonic themes were more freely treated, as on cabinets made in Italy, Spain and Northern Europe from

2156-456: The streets impracticable, or otherwise as benches to sit down, rest, socialize. Another key feature of most buildings is large verandas protected by carved wooden balustrades . The best-known feature of Zanzibari houses are the finely decorated wooden doors, with rich carvings and bas-reliefs , sometimes with big brass studs of Indian tradition. Two main types of doors can be distinguished: those of Indian style have rounded tops, while those in

2205-440: The strength of the materials allowing for flat roofs, while the majority of the population lived in single-story thatched houses similar to those from the 11th and 12th centuries. According to Tom Middleton and Mark Horton, the architectural style of these stone houses have no Arab or Persian elements, and should be viewed as an entirely indigenous development of local vernacular architecture. While much of Zanzibar Town's architecture

2254-437: The structural integrity of the balustrade they form. Balustrades normally terminate in heavy newel posts, columns, and building walls for structural support. Balusters may be formed in several ways. Wood and stone can be shaped on the lathe, wood can be cut from square or rectangular section boards, while concrete, plaster, iron, and plastics are usually formed by molding and casting. Turned patterns or old examples are used for

2303-605: The town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Due to its heritage, Stone Town is also a major visitor attraction in Tanzania, and a large part of its economy depends on tourism -related activities. The heart of Stone Town mostly consists of a maze of narrow alleys lined by houses, shops, bazaars and mosques . Since most streets are too narrow for cars, the town is crowded with bicycles and motorbikes . The seafront has wider streets and larger, more regularly placed buildings. Stone Town's architecture has

2352-463: Was included in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2000, this designation does not provide complete protection for the town's heritage. Despite the establishment of a Conservation Authority, about 80% of the 1,709 buildings of Stone Town are in a deteriorating condition. As coral stone is very friable, frequent maintenance is needed for most of these buildings. Some major restoration projects (especially on

2401-424: Was rebuilt during Omani rule, nearby sites elucidate the general development of Swahili, and Zanzibari, architecture before the 15th century. Stone Town is located along a natural harbour and the first Europeans to set foot on the island of Zanzibar were the Portuguese. The Portuguese ruled the island for over two centuries and began constructing Stone Town's first stone structure, the Old Fort . However, towards

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