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 it 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 and Maratha invaders.
It is named for the fresh water spring that gives the fort a constant supply of potable water, ‘agua’ being the Portuguese word for water and ‘Aguada’ signifying a place where water is collected. So well built and fiercely armed was this fort that it has never fallen into enemy hands.
Fort Aguada is a typical example of Portuguese military architecture. Built of durable laterite stone, so easily available all over Goa, its massive bulwarks which stand fully 5 metres high and 1.3 metres thick, have stood the test of time, lashed as they are by fierce monsoon storms and winds. The fort covers the entirety of the peninsula, and is built using the natural terrain in order to make it more difficult for its walls to be breached.
The Aguada fort also numbers among its splendours a four storeyed lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1864 and is the oldest of its kind in Asia. It once used oil lamps to emit a beacon of light once every seven minutes, which was later upgraded to emit light every 30 seconds.
Aguada Jail
Part of the fort has been converted into the Aguada Jail, which mainly houses those accused of narcotics, sale of drugs and trafficking. This is one of the largest jails in Goa, and since it is very much in use, is closed to members of the public.
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 Arabian Sea, over which the fort has kept watch for more than four hundred 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.
aguada fort
aguada jail
sinquerium beach
goa
