Christ Church Cathedral Zanzibar

Christ Church Cathedral was built between 1873 and 1879 by British missionaries of the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), under the leadership of the abolitionist Bishop Edward Steere, on the site of Zanzibar's last open slave market, which had closed in 1873 under mounting pressure to end the East African slave trade. The cathedral's high altar is positioned over the site of the market's former whipping post, and black cobblestones set into the floor among the pews mark the location of the underground holding chambers where captives were once kept — details that have made the building known informally as the 'Slave Market Church' and a global symbol of emancipation. Architecturally, it is notable for its Saracenic design, blending Zanzibari, Middle Eastern, and late-Victorian Gothic influences. In 2016 the cathedral opened a heritage centre dedicated to the history of the slave trade, and the site now receives more than 100,000 visitors a year.