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House of Wonders

1883 · 19th century · Also known as Beit al-Ajaib

The House of Wonders, Beit al-Ajaib, is a ceremonial palace in Stone Town, Zanzibar, built for Sultan Barghash bin Said and completed in 1883. It was the first building in East Africa to have electricity and a lift, and was damaged in the British bombardment of 1896. Later used as offices and a museum, it partly collapsed in 2020.

House of Wonders
Image: Moongateclimber · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Sultanate of ZanzibarGovernance

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). House of Wonders. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/house-of-wonders
MLA
“House of Wonders.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/house-of-wonders. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “House of Wonders.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/house-of-wonders.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘House of Wonders’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/house-of-wonders (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻