Purana Qila site features

A wall circuit of nearly two kilometres encloses an irregular rectangle of lawns, trees and archaeological ground. Three great gates interrupt the thick ramparts, each framed by bastions and topped with smaller domed forms.

Near the centre, the Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque spreads horizontally behind five arched bays, with the highest and richest frame in the middle. The Sher Mandal rises separately as a compact, red, two-storey octagon.

The large gaps between these buildings are part of what the eye reads: this is a surviving enclosure whose dense city and palace fabric has mostly gone.

The three gateways

16th century. Bara Darwaza, Humayun Darwaza and Talaqi Darwaza combine massive bastions, pointed arches, brackets and chhatris.

Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque

1541. Five façade bays lead to a single-aisled prayer hall, with stone inlay and carving concentrated around the centre.

Sher Mandal

16th century. A two-storey octagonal pavilion associated with Humayun stands apart in the open interior.

The ramparts and moat line

16th century. Thick walls and the former water defence trace the citadel’s roughly two-kilometre perimeter.