Christ Church Cathedral, Stone Town

Christ Church Cathedral, Stone Town tickets: which one to buy

One ticket covers the cathedral, the former slave chambers beneath the adjacent building and the small museum of slavery, and it is modest by local standards; the money supports the Anglican Church of Tanzania. Guides wait at the entrance and charge a further fee, which is worth paying because the site is explained almost entirely through what a guide tells you. Walking tours of Stone Town include the cathedral and cost several times the entry.

The cathedral is on Mkunazini Road in the middle of the old town, five minutes from the House of Wonders and ten from the port, so no transport is needed. Nothing requires booking. Services are held on Sundays and visitors are welcome. The entry fee also covers the small exhibition in the former slave-holding building, which is where most guides begin the tour.

Visiting Christ Church Cathedral, Stone Town: what to see

The cathedral stands on the site of the largest slave market in East Africa, and its construction was a deliberate statement: the market closed in 1873 under British pressure, and Bishop Edward Steere laid the foundation stone the same Christmas. The altar is said to stand where the whipping post stood. Built of coral rag in seven years, the church mixes Perpendicular Gothic with Islamic detail, and its barrel-vaulted concrete roof was Steere's own idea; he died of a heart attack before it was finished and is buried behind the altar.

A crucifix in the nave is made from the wood of the tree under which David Livingstone's heart was buried in Zambia. Beneath a neighbouring building are two chambers where captives were held before sale, low, airless and unlit. In the courtyard, Clara Sornas's sculpture shows five figures in a pit wearing an original chain. A stained-glass window commemorates Bishop Steere, and the organ was shipped from England in the 1880s and rebuilt after decades of tropical damage.

Christ Church Cathedral, Stone Town opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily from morning to late afternoon, with services on Sunday mornings when the tourist route is suspended. Zanzibar is hot and humid year-round, with long rains from March to May and short rains in November; the coral stone interior is cooler than the street. Ramadan changes the rhythm of Stone Town considerably, with many restaurants closed by day. The slave chambers are cramped and can be distressing, and guides handle this carefully.

Dress modestly, which in Zanzibar means covered shoulders and knees for everyone. Photography is allowed. Allow an hour with a guide. The Old Fort, the Forodhani night food market and the Freddie Mercury house are all within ten minutes. Stone Town's power supply is unreliable and the cathedral interior can be dark, so a torch is more useful than a camera flash. The Sunday service is sung in Swahili and English and is open to visitors, and the singing is the best reason to come on a Sunday morning.