Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shop for
crafts
(
Click here
)
at one of the city's many craft venues
Get to know the area around Dar es Salaam, starting with the
beaches
(
Click
Snorkel and relax on
Mbudya
or
Bongoyo
islands (
Click here
)
Immerse yourself in life local style - everything from enjoying the weekend
scene at
Coco Beach
(
Click here
)
to attending a church service at
St Joseph's
Cathedral
(
Click here
)
or
Azania Front Lutheran Church
(
Click here
)
Do some
cultural tourism
(
Click here
) to see another side of Dar es Salaam
life
Visit the
fish market
(
Click here
)
or a
museum
(
Click here
)
History
Until the mid-19th century, what is now Dar es Salaam was just one of many small fishing
villages along the East African coast. In the 1860s Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar decided
to develop the area's inland harbour into a port and trading centre, and named the site Dar
es Salaam ('Haven of Peace'). No sooner had development of the harbour begun, however,
than the sultan died and the town again sank into anonymity, overshadowed by Bagamoyo,
an important dhow port to the north. It wasn't until the 1880s that Dar es Salaam assumed
new significance, first as a way-station for Christian missionaries making their way from
Zanzibar to the interior, and then as a seat for the German colonial government, which
viewed Dar es Salaam's protected harbour as a better alternative for steamships than the
dhow port in Bagamoyo. In 1891 the colonial administration was moved from Bagamoyo
to Dar es Salaam. Since then the city has remained Tanzania's undisputed political and eco-
nomic capital, even though the legislature and official seat of government were transferred
to Dodoma in 1973.
