Red Fort, Agra

The Red Fort is a fort and residence building out of the period of the Mughal Emperors in Indian city Agra and served in 16th and 17th century with interruptions as a dwelling of the Mughals. It lies on the bank of river Yamuna and is about 2.5 km far from Taj Mahal. Red fort was included in 1983 in the UNESCO world cultural heritage sites. A part of the fort is used today for military purpose and in that part the public is not accessible. The construction of the fort was taken up in 1565 under Mughal Emperor Akbar, the Great, who transferred the capital from Delhi to Agra, and was expanded under the rule of his successors, especially under Shah Jahan in the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century. While Akbar let construction predominantly in red sandstone with marble enclosures, Shah Jahan preferred white marble as building material with decoration out of gold and semi precious stones. The capital was shifted back to Delhi in 1648. With that, the red fort lost its meaning. After his seizure of power in 1658, sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb placed his father Shah Jahan in the red fort under house arrest, where he died in 1666. It was taken in 1803 through British troops.

he fort is in the shape of half moon surrounded by a 21 meter of high wall, whose circumference amounts to 2.4 kilometers. The wall like the majority of the surrounded buildings is made of red sandstone. That is why the fort is famous as Red fort. Two head gates, the Delhi gate and the Lahore gate are the grand entrances. Inside the fort, there are representative palaces, several mosques and gardens. The architectural style unites in harmonious manner together with elements of Islamic and Hindu architecture.