Old Dispensary (Ithnashiri Dispensary)

The Old Dispensary on Mizingani Road was commissioned in 1887 by the Ismaili merchant Tharia Topan to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, intended as a charitable hospital for the poor. Topan died in 1891 before it was finished; his widow continued the work but ran out of funds in 1893, after which the building was sold and finally completed in 1894. It is known for its ornate carved wooden balconies, stained glass and stucco work blending Indian and European neoclassical styles. Left derelict through the 1970s and 1980s, it was restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture between 1994 and 1996 using traditional lime mortars and local mangrove timber, and it now houses a small museum as one of Stone Town's best-known landmarks.