Old Fort

Just south of the Beit el-Ajaib is the Old Fort, a massive, bastioned structure originally built around 1700 on the site of a Portuguese chapel by Omani Arabs as a defence against the Portuguese. In recent years it has been partially renovated to house the Zanzibar Cultural Centre, as well as the offices of the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). Inside is an open-air theatre that hosts music and dance performances.

There's also a small information centre that has schedules for performances, and a good restaurant. The tree growing inside the fort, in the area in front of the café, is known in Swahili as mwarobaini (the tree of forty) because its leaves, bark and other parts are used to cure up to 40 different ailments.