VASAI FORT

OVERVIEW

District : Thane
Height above sea level :
Difficulty rating : Simple - city Fort
Base village : Vasai
Approx. time to reach : 15 min from Vasai
Best Season to visit : Any time
Duration: 1\2 day

How To Reach

One needs to take a train bound to Virar from Churchgate and get off at Vasai Road . The Churchgate - Virar falls in the Western Railway. If someone is coming from the central railway or harbour line then they have to board the train from Dadar. The bus depot is quite adjacent to the railway station. The buses going to fort are Killabandar buses. There are buses every half hour. Ticket costs you Rs.7.00 and you can get off at the last stop and start walking around. Auto Rickshaws are also available which can be hired from the main road outside the station but it would cost you around Rs.10.00 per head.

Place to Stay / Eat

No Place to Stay or eat. Its a city fort and one can visit the fort and complete it in a 1\2 day.

Places of Interest

It takes 15 minutes from the base village to the fort. Main entrance to the fort is to the right side. After entering we see the steps towards rampart from where we can get the idea of the construction of the fort. The height of the rampart is 30 to 35 feet. Here we can see ten bastions. There names are Nossa Sonora, Doremidea, Rais Mago, St. Gonsolay, the fourth one being Madre the Diy. We can see secret passages in rampart near the 4th bastion. Fifth bastion is St. John, fom where there is the way to neighbouring harbour. The sixth one is Elephant; seventh one is St. Pedro, eight one St. Paul, ninth one St. Sebastian and tenth one is St. Sebastian Cavlero.

On the way to the citadel we see three churches. When we reach near the Citadel we see a court building on the left side, then a hospital and a town hall with two arches. Next to this there is a jail and a temple of Vajreshwari Devi. We also see a memorial of victory of Chimajiappa over Vasai. Then we return back and go to the Citadel. Here we see storeroom of ammunition, residence of soldiers and the remnants of the palaces. We also find a lithograph here. It takes 2 hours to seethe fort completely.