All about doors: pieces of Zanzibar's history.

Zanzibar indeed is a paradise in the Indian Ocean. The tropical island is located around 25 miles from the Tanzanian coast and easy to reach from there via plane or ferry (that is by the way not recommended to take due to several heavy accidents in the past). Its eventful history is characterized by many different empires that controlled the island over the past centuries. The Indians, Persians, Portuguese, Omani Arabs, Dutch and English to name but a few have all been here at one time or another. Some, particularly the Shirazi Persians and Omani Arabs, stayed to settle and rule. With this influence, Zanzibar has become predominantly Islamic (97%) - the remaining 3% is mainly made up of Hindus and Christians. So are most of the Massai for example Christians. The different influences are reflected in many different areas such as the architecture, the food, religion and cultural habits in general. And to focus now on one obvious example that can be seen throughout the whole island and also on the mainland of Tanzania are the Zanzibari doors.

There are different types of doors - Arabian ones, Indian ones, some with defensive functions - but they have all one thing in common: they are all either made of wood, of metal or - in most cases - made of both materials. Artful creations that you just want to import and mix with contemporary (European) styles. Some more impressions: