Vijaydurg Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Built on a promontory along the Sindhudurg coast, washed by the Arabian Sea on three sides, Vijaydurg is the oldest of the forts on this coastline and one of the most formidable coastal fortifications on the subcontinent. The former Gheria fort, dating from the Shilahara period, was retaken by the Marathas in the seventeenth century; Shivaji had it rebuilt in laterite, considerably enlarged it and renamed it "Fort of Victory". The UNESCO management plan highlights its triple line of fortifications and describes it as the main centre of Maratha naval operations. In the eighteenth century, Admiral Kanhoji Angre made it the headquarters of his fleet, from where attacks on European ships were launched; the stronghold withstood several British, Portuguese and Dutch assaults before falling in 1756. Its high laterite walls, its 27 bastions, the Rameshwar temple and the wide sheltered creek that served as a monsoon harbour make it one of the most evocative maritime sites in the Konkan.