In the 1860s the walls of the old East India Company fort were pulled down and Bombay rebuilt itself as a showpiece. Along the edge of a new open ground — the Oval Maidan — rose a line of Victorian Gothic public buildings: the Old Secretariat, the University with its Convocation Hall and library, and the Bombay High Court.
Sixty years later, land reclaimed from the bay on the other side of the Oval filled with Art Deco apartment blocks and cinemas. In 2018 UNESCO inscribed the two rows together as the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai. Just to the south-east, Kala Ghoda — “black horse” — is the city’s arts district.
What to see and do: Fort, Oval Maidan & Kala Ghoda
Walk the Oval Maidan
Cricket matches run all day on the maidan. From the path down the middle you can see both halves of the World Heritage site at once: the High Court and the 85-metre Rajabai Clock Tower, designed by George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1878, on the east; the curved balconies of the Art Deco blocks on the west.
Find the Art Deco landmarks
The Eros Cinema (1938) opposite Churchgate station and the Regal Cinema (1933) in Colaba are the best-known. The style continues along Marine Drive. A guided architecture walk is the easiest way to learn what you are looking at.
Visit the museum
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS, the former Prince of Wales Museum) is Mumbai’s finest museum, in a domed building by George Wittet set in a garden. Allow two hours for the sculpture, miniature paintings and decorative arts.
Browse Kala Ghoda
Around the Jehangir Art Gallery you will find pavement artists, the David Sassoon Library, the sky-blue Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, boutiques and some of the city’s best cafés. The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival usually takes over the streets in late January or February.
Loop through Horniman Circle
Continue to Flora Fountain (1864), St Thomas’ Cathedral (1718), the ring of buildings at Horniman Circle and the columned Town Hall, home of the Asiatic Society.
How to get there
- By train: Churchgate (Western line) is beside the Oval Maidan; CSMT (Central and Harbour lines) is ten minutes’ walk from Flora Fountain.
- By Metro: the Aqua Line (Line 3) has stations in the Fort area — check the current map.
- On foot: Kala Ghoda is about ten minutes’ walk from the Gateway of India.
Insider tips
- The High Court and University are working institutions: admire them from outside unless a tour or open day gives access.
- Sunday morning is the quietest time to walk and photograph; weekdays have the office-hour bustle.
- Museums and galleries commonly close one day a week or on public holidays — check before you go.
- Shade is scarce on the maidan; walk before 10:00 or after 16:30 in the hot months.
Tours that include this stop
These guided experiences cover this place or combine easily with a visit:
Guided walking tour from US$12 Victorian Gothic Heritage Quarter and Art Deco Walking Tour
A guided walk through the UNESCO World Heritage ensemble that faces itself across the Oval Maidan: nineteenth-century Gothic on one side, 1930s Art Deco on the other. Excellent value, and the best way to make sense of the Fort district’s architecture.
- Mumbai’s UNESCO-listed Victorian Gothic buildings
- Art Deco apartment blocks and cinemas
- The stories behind the architecture
Guided walking tour from US$26 Mumbai: South Mumbai Guided Heritage Walking Tour
A three-hour walk through the oldest part of the city, taking in St Thomas’ Cathedral, the streets of Fort and Marine Drive, with a guide to explain how seven islands became Bombay.
- St Thomas’ Cathedral and the Fort district
- Marine Drive
- The city’s colonial and trading history
