Zanzibar National Museum of History & Culture (House of Wonders)

The House of Wonders (Beit-al-Ajaib) that houses this museum was built in 1883 as a ceremonial palace for Sultan Barghash bin Said and was the first building in Zanzibar to have electric light and an electric lift, earning it the local name 'House of Wonders'. Once the tallest building in East Africa, it faces Forodhani Gardens on the Stone Town seafront and was damaged by British naval bombardment during the 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War. Reopened as a museum in the early 2000s, it now holds permanent exhibits on Swahili and Zanzibari culture and the East African environment.