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North of Stone Town the coast road runs past fuel depots, a port and new housing, and it is easy to drive by the place where the Omani sultanate began on Zanzibar. Mtoni Palace was once a sprawling seafront residence; the most vivid record of its life is a memoir written decades later, in German, by a woman who grew up there.
The palaces of the Omani sultans tell a different story from Stone Town's merchant lanes: of a ruling family that moved its seat from Arabia to Africa, filled the island's west coast with country houses, and then lost them to fire, neglect and revolution. What survives is fragmentary. With the right context, that is part of the appeal. For the town palaces — the Palace Museum and the House of Wonders — see Stone Town history in ten buildings.
The story
A sultan moves south. Said bin Sultan ruled Oman from 1804 to 1856 and increasingly governed from Zanzibar, moving his court there in the 1830s — sources give 1832 or 1840. The island offered a deep harbour, the monsoon trade and land for the clove plantations he championed. His sons later split the realm: one took Muscat, another Zanzibar.
Mtoni: the first palace. Mtoni, built from around 1828, is the oldest Omani building on the island. According to an architectural history by ARCOMAI, Said took over an existing house from the merchant Saleh bin Haramil al-Abry and enlarged it with a Persian bath wing and a wing of rooms behind a portico. A local report describes a household of around 1,000 people — his wife, dozens of concubines, his 36 children, servants and enslaved workers. After Said's death in 1856 the palace lost its purpose.
What happened to it. Much of it was demolished in the early twentieth century, and it was later used for fuel storage and then as a cement depot. It was listed as a protected monument in 1957, hosted concerts and cultural events from 2005 to 2015 under a neighbouring hotel's care, and returned to government management in 2018. Restoration as a museum, with Omani support, has been announced; at the time of writing the ruin remains overgrown, though its baths, aqueduct and courtyard can still be traced.
Salme, who wrote it down. Sayyida Salme bint Said was born on 30 August 1844, the youngest of Said's 36 children, and spent her early years at Mtoni. In 1866, expecting a child with the German merchant Rudolph Heinrich Ruete, she left Zanzibar aboard the British frigate HMS Highflyer; in Aden she was baptised Emily and married Ruete in May 1867. Widowed in 1870, she wrote Memoiren einer arabischen Prinzessin, published in 1886 and in English in 1888 — described as the first known autobiography by an Arab woman. Her pages on Mtoni's courtyards, baths and daily rhythm are why the ruin can still be imagined. She died in Jena in 1924; a permanent exhibition on her life is at the Palace Museum in Stone Town.
Maruhubi: Barghash's palace. A short way south of Mtoni, Sultan Barghash built Maruhubi Palace in 1880 to 1882, largely for the women of his household. It burned in an accidental fire in 1899. What remains is a striking field of stone columns that once held up an upper floor, the bath-house and water channels, set among trees near the shore. Of all the Omani ruins it is the most visually legible.
The Persian baths at Kidichi and Kizimbani. Inland, among the spice farms, Said built bath-houses near his country estates. Kidichi is said to have been built for a Persian wife and keeps fine stucco decoration inside its domed rooms. Kizimbani is plainer and less visited. Both are small and easily combined with a farm visit.
Key facts
Mtoni Palace: built from about 1828; the oldest Omani building on Zanzibar; residence of Sultan Said bin Sultan (ruled 1804–1856); mostly demolished in the early 20th century; protected 1957; returned to government management 2018. Princess Salme: born at Mtoni 30 August 1844; memoir published 1886 (English 1888); died 1924. Maruhubi Palace: built 1880–82 by Sultan Barghash; burned 1899; columns and baths survive. Kidichi Persian baths: about 1850, stucco interior. Distance from Stone Town: Mtoni is given as about 5 km or about 8 km north, depending on the source.
How to experience it
Make it a half-day. The ruins sit along the road north of Stone Town and the baths lie in the spice country inland, so the natural shape is a morning: Maruhubi, then Mtoni if access is open, then Kidichi alongside a spice farm visit, back for lunch. A private driver makes this simple; public transport does not.
Access changes. Mtoni is usually open, with a small entrance fee collected on site, but confirm on the day, as management has changed hands. Opening at Maruhubi and the baths is informal, and a custodian or guide may show you round for a tip.
| Site | What survives | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Mtoni | Overgrown ruin; baths, aqueduct and courtyard can still be traced | Usually open; small fee on site; confirm on the day |
| Maruhubi | Rows of stone columns, bath-house and water channels | Informal opening; a custodian may show you round |
| Kidichi | Small domed bath-house with stucco inside | Informal; confirm on the day |
| Kizimbani | Plainer baths, less visited | Informal; confirm on the day |
With a guide. A guide who knows Salme's memoir brings Mtoni back to life; without one, it is a pile of stones. Reading a chapter of the memoir beforehand works almost as well.
Respect the ruins. Don't climb columns or walls; coral-stone crumbles. Wear sturdy shoes, carry water and insect repellent, and dress modestly — these sites sit among villages.
Right for you if… you enjoy ruins with a story, have read or want to read Salme's memoir, or are already doing a spice morning and have time to spare. If you prefer well-presented museums with labels and shade, the Palace Museum in town will suit you better than the ruins.
Why it matters to how we travel
These sites show how fragile Zanzibar's heritage is outside the protected old town. Where a traveller's interest is real, a travel designer can pair these sites with a guide who knows the history, and be honest about the condition they will find — no oversold "palace visit" for what is, at Mtoni, mostly memory.
Journeys to consider
- Shores of Zanzibar — Stone Town and the coast, with room for a ruins-and-spice morning. → See Shores of Zanzibar
- Stone Town, the east coast and Mnemba — ten nights — the long journey, with time for the island's quieter history. → See the ten-night journey
- Southern Safari & Spice — Tanzania's parks, then the island of the sultans. → See Southern Safari & Spice
