Stone Town

This guide to Stone Town's carved doors in Zanzibar City reads them as a private code left by long-gone carvers. You'll hear why brass studs borrowed from Punjab's war-elephant gates ended up purely decorative here, and how a door's pattern once announced its owner's trade: wave motifs for a dhow merchant, tight geometric interlace for an accountant, a stylized tree for a man who traded in frankincense. It also traces the carved rope border meant to trap evil spirits at the threshold. Look closely at the frame in front of you before you move to the next one.