The next destination on our sightseeing trip was the Fort St. George, Chennai. This is one of the notified sites in Tamil Nadu. On our way to this fort we had our lunch in one of the restaurants. The meal was a light one since we had a lot of travelling to do that day. The Fort St. George was the first fortress that was built by the British in India. Back in those days the coastal city of erstwhile Madras was said to be uninhabited. The city is believed to have grown around the Fort St. George, once the Fort was built. The British settled here with intentions to conduct trade in the area as they believed that the port could be made to good use to transport goods.
Fort St. George Chennai I Image Resource : housing.com
The Fort acted as a place of security for the British for a large number of years. The French had possessed it for a small period of time when they captured the Fort from the British. Presently, the Fort is used for administrative purposes for the Legislative Assemblies of the state. A contingent of troops are kept in waiting in the Fort even today as they wait to be assigned to any of the South Indian states or the Andaman. The Archaeological Survey of India maintains the Fort and they have really done a commendable job in preserving this historical monument for so many years. We bought our tickets at the entrance. The old driver of ours accompanied us as well and he doubled up as a guide.
Inside the Fort lies the St. Mary’s Church, which is the oldest church set up by the Anglicans in India. The church is one of the most sacred ones in the eastern part of the world. We went to the museum after this. There were a large number of relics and objects on display. The weapons, medals, coins and uniforms from the British Empire were on show in the museum. We also visited the Wellesley House built in memory of Lord Wellesley. We travelled to Valluvar Kottam after this. The Fort St. George, Chennai, really enriched us with a lot of history.
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