Agra Fort

Agra Fort is in Agra, a city in India.

It is made of red stone. Its high walls curve around like a giant smile. Inside are palaces, gardens and halls where emperors lived and worked.

Agra Fort stands on the bank of the Yamuna River in the city of Agra, in northern India. It is built of red sandstone and is also known as the Red Fort of Agra. Its walls rise about 21 meters and run about 2.5 kilometers around. A moat surrounds them.

The fort was both an army base and a royal home. When Agra was the capital of the Mughal emperors, the empire was ruled from here. Inside the walls are palaces, audience halls and mosques, so many that it is like a city within a city. The Taj Mahal stands downstream, around a bend in the river.

Britannica describes Agra Fort as a large 16th-century red sandstone fortress on the right bank of the Yamuna, in west-central Uttar Pradesh, which served as military base, royal residence and seat of government while the Mughal capital was at Agra. It is a contemporary of Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, about 200 km to the northwest, and is linked to the Taj Mahal, downstream around a bend of the river, by parkland and gardens.

The walls of the roughly crescent-shaped enclosure run about 2.5 km and rise 21 m (70 ft), surrounded by a moat. UNESCO, which listed the fort in 1983, describes the enclosure as holding the imperial city of the Mughal rulers, with palaces such as the Jahangir Palace and Shah Jahan's Khas Mahal, audience halls such as the Diwan-i-Khas, and two mosques.

Inside the fort are palaces and big halls.

One palace has walls covered with thousands of tiny mirrors! In one hall, the emperor listened to people who came to ask for help.

Inside the walls, Jahangir's Palace is the largest home in the fort. In the Hall of Public Audience, the emperor listened to people's requests and met officials. The Hall of Private Audience was for important visitors, and the famous Peacock Throne was once kept there.

Shah Jahan's Pearl Mosque is made entirely of white marble. The Palace of Mirrors has walls and ceilings set with thousands of small mirrors. Near the Hall of Private Audience rises the Octagonal Tower, where Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal lived.

Britannica's list of major buildings: Jahangir's Palace (Jahangiri Mahal), the largest residence in the complex; the Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid) of Shah Jahan, entirely of white marble; the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas), for distinguished visitors, where the Peacock Throne was kept until Aurangzeb took it to Delhi; and the Octagonal Tower (Musamman Burj), residence of Mumtaz Mahal.

In the Hall of Public Audience (Diwan-i-Am) the emperor heard public petitions and met state officials. The Khas Mahal, the emperor's private palace, had marble walls once adorned with flowers in precious gems; to its northeast, the Palace of Mirrors (Sheesh Mahal) has walls and ceilings inlaid with thousands of small mirrors, in two chambers probably used as baths.

Today, visitors walk through the big gate and explore the palaces.

Not far away, along the river, is another famous building: the Taj Mahal.

Today Agra Fort is a World Heritage Site, listed by UNESCO in 1983. Visitors cross to the Amar Singh Gate and walk through courtyards, halls and palaces.

The fort and the Taj Mahal are linked by parks and gardens along the Yamuna River. Inside the fort, visitors can see Jahangir's Palace, the white marble Pearl Mosque and the Palace of Mirrors. The Taj Mahal has its own page to explore.

The fort was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983 under criterion (iii); UNESCO lists the Taj Mahal as a separate site, and describes the fort's 2.5 km enclosure as holding the imperial city of the Mughal rulers, with palaces, audience halls and two mosques. Visitors enter only by the Amar Singh Gate. Among the buildings inside, Britannica highlights Jahangir's Palace, the Pearl Mosque, the halls of public and private audience, the Khas Mahal and the Palace of Mirrors.

The Taj Mahal lies downstream, around a bend of the Yamuna, linked to the fort by parkland and gardens; its own page covers Shah Jahan's tomb for Mumtaz Mahal.