een weetje over de beroemde Zanzibar doors
25 juli 2019 - Zanzibar, Tanzania
No description of Stone Town could be complete without a mention of the famous Zanzibar doors. These massive teak or mahogany structures grace the front of almost every building of note, and their style has been copied all over the world. The original Zanzibar doors owe their distinctive brass studs to India - the studs originated as a defence against war elephants, used to batter down fortified doors in the tribal wars of Punjabi history. Needless to say, this distinctive feature of Stone Town's doors has always been purely decorative.
Due to the Islamic ban on depicting living things, most door patterns were abstract, their designs only suggesting the natural objects that inspired them. The outermost strip of the doorframe is always carved with a chain or rope in order to enslave any evil spirits attempting to force their way into the residence. The Arab inscriptions carved in the stone frieze above the lintel are usually verses from the Koran or the names of the house owner who commissioned the door.
Deze foto werd gemaakt op 25 juli 2019 in Zanzibar, Tanzania met een Apple Iphone 7.
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