Further north along the coast, this palace was built for Sultan Said as an 'overflow' house for his children and their servants, when Mtoni Palace became too crowded (see the Wives and Children of Sultan Said box opposite). Building started in 1847 but was not completed by the time of Said's death in 1856.
Sultan Majid (Said's successor) did not continue the project and much of the stone from the palace was used during the construction of the Zanzibar railroad (described below). The remaining ruins were abandoned and finally demolished in 1947 to make room for a school and teacher-training centre. Today, only the giant porch of the original palace remains, with high arches and steps leading up one side.
The palace is in the grounds of the training centre, now called the Nkrumah Teacher Training College (Chuo Cha Ualimu Nkrumah), and is reached by turning off the main road a few kilometres beyond Mtoni. Beit el Ras means 'the palace on the headland' and from the porch you get good views over this part of the coast and out towards the group of small islands off Zanzibar Town.
