According to tradition, the original Swahili population came from Kilwa.

In 1514, Duarte Barbosa noted that the town had a Muslim population and that they spoke the same Swahili dialect as Angoche.

It was an important staging post on the maritime journey between Portugal and India.

The Portuguese settlement (later known as Stone Town) was the capital of Portuguese East Africa, a distinction it held until 1898,[2] when Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) became the capital.

Within Stone Town, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte and the Fort São Sebastião are two notable old buildings.