One of the last fortifications on the Southern tip, the fort in its glory days was at the forefront of the battle, had 21 guns and military barracks. The leftover vestiges of the Portuguese influence are the turrets and cannons.

Fort Aguada: Standing on the crumbling ramparts of what was once the most formidable and impregnable of the Portuguese forts in India, one looks out at a panoramic ocean vista, witnessing the confluence of the Mandovi River and the Arabian Sea, over which the fort has kept watch for more than 400 years. This is so majestic a sight that it is easy to picture a Portuguese galleon or carrack on the horizon, on the last leg of its arduous voyage from far off Portugal around the Cape of Good Hope, finally able to make safe harbour and replenish its supplies.

History

The Aguada Fort is a monument to Portuguese construction and engineering. Although parts of it have fallen to the ravages of time, much of it is intact and remains the best-preserved Portuguese fort in India today. Built over three years from 1609 to 1612, it once defended the Portuguese stronghold against Dutch invaders.

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