The Anglican Christ Church Cathedral was built on the site of the former slave market, a square surrounded by small houses. In the middle of this square stood a Mkunazi (Jojoba) tree, used as a whipping post, where the slaves were beaten as a test to see how much pain they could endure. In 1857, David Livingston, the British explorer in Africa, who had stayed on Zanzibar, appealed to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge to abolish the slave trade in Zanzibar. His appeal was based historically on the work of William Wilberforce (1759-1833) an Englishman who served in Parliament for 28 years. The member of parliament was not only a politician, but also an evangelist, and was one of England’s leading abolitionists. Wilberforce’s persuasive arguments on moral and religious grounds, ended his 26 year campaign against slavery in England with the passage of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. Sultan Barghash signed the decree that abolished slavery in Zanzibar on June 6, 1873. The slave  market was closed, the land sold to an English missionary, the Reverend Arthur Nugent West. A Hindu merchant, Jairam Senji gave the rest of the property to the church. The church, built according to plans sent from England by architect C. F. Hayward, was celebrated with the first Eucharist on Christmas Day, 1880. The work was  finally complete in 1883, exactly ten years  after it was begun. Bishop Edward Steere supervised the work, all done by local, inexperienced labor. When installing some of the columns in the church, during the bishop’s absence, the unskilled and uneducated laborers put the columns in base side up, upside down.. Anglican Christ Church Cathedral in Zanzibar was dedicated to Reverend Arthur Nugent West, who had died on Christmas Day, 1874. Behind the High Altar is a series of copper repoussé panels that follow the curve of the apse, each an image of one of Christ’s disciples. Reference to the English explorer, David Livingston, and other English explorers of Africa, are remembered in one of the stained glass windows behind the altar. On the left of the High Altar is the Livingston Cross, made from the wood of the tree under which Livingston’s heart was buried. He died of malaria in 1873 in the village of Chitambo, Zambia near Lake Bangweulu. Dr. Livingston had requested his heart to be buried in Africa, although his body was returned to England* to be entombed in London’s Westminster Cathedral. The cross was brought to the Cathedral in 1901. The High Altar of the cathedral is on the exact spot of the Slave Market’s whipping post. Third Bishop of Zanzibar, Edward Steer, died of a heart attack in the building next to the cathedral. He is buried behind the altar of the building upon which he worked so diligently to construct.

*Note: Dr. David Livington’s body was prepared for travel and burial by his medical assistant and cook. The internal organs were removed, and the body was preserved in salt and brandy. The legs were positioned to shorten the package, and the corpse was dressed in a cotton shirt given Dr. Livingston by his daughter, Agnes. The body was this wrapped in calico cloth, and the whole bundle was coated in tar. His loyal attendants, Chuma and Susi, transported the body to Zanzibar, a 1,500 km/932 mile trek through the jungle, near many hostile villages. From Zanzibar his body was shipped back to England, where his body laid in state at the Royal Geographical Society on Savile Row, London. His beloved wife, Mary had predeceased him, dying of malaria in Africa in 1862.

*Notes: from the book: David Livingston, The Truth Behind the Legend, by Rob Mackenzie, commemorative edition: 2007

PHOTOS:  Left Column: 1. View of the dome above the High Altar. 2. View of the repoussé copper panels behind the High Altar in the apse of the church. 3. Center, Top: View looking toward the High Altar of the church. Center, Bottom:  View looking toward the rose window at the back of the church. Right Column: 1. The Livingston Cross. 2. One of a pair of  carved wooden doors at the entrance to the cathedral.

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