Purana Qila

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Purana Qila, or "Old Fort", stands on a mound near the former course of the Yamuna, between Mathura Road and the Delhi Zoo. Its ramparts, about 1.5 km long and some twenty metres high, form an irregular quadrilateral crowned with crenellations and once bordered by a wide moat linked to the river. Three two-storeyed gateways flanked by bastions control access: the Bara Darwaza to the west, still in use today, the Humayun Darwaza to the south and the Talaqi Darwaza to the north, whose Islamic pointed arch is accompanied by chhatris and brackets of Hindu inspiration, with inlays of marble and blue tiles. Inside, what survives above all is the Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque, with five arcades, and the Sher Mandal, an octagonal pavilion of red sandstone. A citadel of Dinpanah, the city of Humayun, then Shergarh under Sher Shah Suri, the fort is also a major archaeological site: excavations have uncovered a long sequence of occupation, presented in a small museum on site. A sound and light show is staged there in the evening.