Castella de Aguada

Castella de Aguada (corruption of Castelo da Aguada, Portuguese for "Fort of the Waterpoint"), also known as the Bandra Fort, is a fort located in Bandra, Mumbai, India. "Castella" is a misspelling for Portuguese "Castelo" (castle), although it seems its Portuguese builders actually called it Forte de Bandorá (or Bandra Fort). It is located at Land's End in Bandra. It was built by the Portuguese in 1640 as a watchtower overlooking Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the southern island of Mahim. The strategic value of the fort was enhanced in 1661 after the Portuguese ceded the seven islands of Bombay that lay to the immediate south of Bandra to the English.

The name indicates its origin as a place where fresh water was available in the form of a fountain ("Aguada") for Portuguese ships cruising the coasts in the initial period of Portuguese presence. The fort lies over several levels, from sea level to an altitude of 24 metres (79 ft). Castella de Aguada has been featured in several Hindi films, such as Dil Chahta Hai and Buddha Mil Gaya.

Text adapted from “Castella de Aguada” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castella de Aguada ranks #3,245 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #121 of the 172 mapped in India. Founded 1640, it is older than 28% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 580 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,395 times in the last 60 days, more than 57% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Mumbai, 7 km away. See how India compares in the castle statistics.

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