Fort William

Completed in 1781 to serve as an impregnable fort at Maidan, Fort William, named after King William III, now serves as the Military Head quarters of the Eastern Command, which can accommodate a garrison of 10,000 men and has huge green expanse giving lung space to a chocked city.

After the events of 1756, the British decided there would be no repetition of the attack on the city and set out to replace the original Fort William. First they cleared out the inhabitants of the village of Govindpur and in 1758 laid the foundations of a fort, which was completed in 1781 at an expense of 2 million British pounds.
The fort is still in use today and visitors are allowed inside only with special permission. The area cleared around Fort William became the Maidan, the ‘lungs’ of modern Calcutta, stretching 3 km north to south and is over a km wide..

Marble Palace

Built in 1835 by a Bengali Zamindar on Muktaram Babu St. a narrow lane off Chittaranjan Ave, this palace houses an interesting collection of curios, statues, paintings and a private zoo. There’s a private zoo here too, but the inhabitants are only slightly more animated than the marble lions gracing the palace lawns. The Marble Palace is one of the well-maintained buildings of 19th century colonial Calcutta and is a fine example of Gothic architecture.

The three-storey building has tall Corinthian pillars and Chinese pavilion type verandas on the sides. The high iron gates open out to a large circular lawn, which has an aviary and an intricately carved marble fountain at the centre; beyond are a rock garden and a statue of the Buddha.

Entering the building, one finds a succession of large halls and marbles everywhere - of 90 different varieties and it is said that these are transported across the seas to provide floors, wall panels and tabletops. Inside are displays of beautiful paintings, sculpture, furniture and antique urns. This collection, garnered from 90 countries around the world, is definitely not to be missed.
Built in 1855, in Chorebagan the famous place of the Mullicks, it contains numerous art treasures, statues pictures and oil painting, among which two are by Reubens. There is also an original painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds..