Stone Town - People's Palace

(Local Name: Beit el-Sahel) Beit el-Sahel, also known as the People's Palace, was the home of the sultans and their families from the 1880s until the revolution of 1964.

In 1994 the Beit el-Sahel became a museum devoted to the sultans of Zanzibar. The main floor features displays from 1828 to 1870 when commercial treaties were signed with the US, Britain, France and the Hanseatic Republics. One of the rooms in Beit el-Sahel is dedicated to the Princess Salme who eloped with a German businessman and later wrote her autobiography.

Exhibits on the second floor feature clothing, furniture including the Sultan's huge bed, and other affluent items from the period of 1870 to 1896 when modern amenities were introduced such as electricity. On the grounds of Beit el-Sahel is the tomb of Sultan Seyyid Said and his two sons, Kaled and Barghash.