The Moti Daman fort and lighthouse

Daman is the city of twin forts, each built on the opposite banks of Daman Ganga River at the confluence where the river merges with Arabian Sea. Although the forts are in urgent need of restoration, a walk on the streets inside them gives you an experience of the bygone era. Many original Portuguese buildings are now converted and used as government offices, but their original architecture is still intact. The buildings are painted in Mediterranean pastel colours like Ochre, blue and pink making the whole area pretty. A walk from the land gate to the sea gate of Moti Daman fort hardly takes 20 minutes, but I would suggest turning into the bylanes to check out the pretty houses with thatched slate roofs. The construction of Moti Daman fort started immediately after the Portuguese conquest of Daman in 1559, and continued till the end of 16th century. The fort is protected by a moat (that is now dry) on southern side and by the river on northern side. The main street that runs from land gate to sea gate has many barracks of defence personnel and a memorial marking liberation of Daman by Maratha light infantry in 1961 resulting in inclusion of Daman in mainland India.

The Portuguese built a lighthouse for their merchant sail ships that used to arrive on the coast of Daman in middle ages. The old lighthouse needs restoration, but a visit to it is worth as it gives a whole spanning view of Moti Daman, Nani Daman and the beach.