Old Dispensary

The Old Dispensary sits right on the waterfront, recognizable by its ornate, carved wooden balconies and stained glass windows that overlook the harbor. A wealthy merchant named Tharia Topan commissioned the building in the late nineteenth century to serve as a hospital for the poor. Construction took five years, finishing in eighteen ninety-four. After Topan died, the building served as a dispensary for decades, but it eventually fell into ruin until the Aga Khan Trust for Culture restored the stonework in the nineties.