Friday, 06 March 2015 / Published in Best Offerings In Lahore, Historical Places in Lahore

11 most visited historical places of Lahore city

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11 most visited historical places of Lahore. Lahore is one of the epicenters of architecture, culture and food particularly that belonging to the Mughal, Sikh and British period in which Historical buildings serve as visual reminders of the past. Lahore is one of the major city of sub-continent where Mughal era architecture is in abundance and starting point of different architectural fusions of Turkish, Central Asia and Oriental work. In this list you can find out the 11 most visited historical places of Lahore, must be in list for your next visit to Lahore.

1. Lahore Fort (Shahi Qila) number 1 in list

Location : Fort Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Alamgiri Gate In Front Of The Fort

Naulakha Pavilion

Old Khangah Inside Fort

The Elephant Path

The Lahore fort which mostly known as Shahi Qila Lahore was being constructed between 1556-1605 by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Shahi Qila is located in Walled City and in front of another great historical building Badshahi Mosque. It is really beautiful building of old era which attracts people throughout the world. It is excellent place for those who love the heritage history of Lahore and having keen interest in Mughal architecture. Daily hundreds of international and local visitors come here to know about this marvelous architecture.

The origins of Lahore Fort are obscure and are traditionally based on various myths. However, during the excavation carried out in 1959 by the Department of Archaeology, in front of Diwan-e-Aam, a gold coin of Mahmood of Ghazni dated AH 416 (1025 AD) was found at a depth of 7.62 metres from the level of the lawns. Cultural layers continued to a further depth of 5 metres, giving strong indications that people had lived here long before the conquest of Lahore by Mahmood in 1021 AD. Further mention of the fort is traceable to Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori successive invasions of Lahore from 1180 to 1186 AD.

2. Lahore Museum number 2 in list

Location : Mall Road, Lahore, Pakistan

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The Lahore Museum was established 1894. Lahore Museum is also located at Mall Road, Lahore. The present building of Lahore Museum was designed by the Sir Ganga Ram and it is the biggest museum of the country. There are numbers of heritage items are being kept here such as weapons, textiles, jewelry. People and especially students visit this museum and observe the old age things.

The Museum contains some fine specimens of Mughal and Sikh doorways and wood-work and has a large collection of paintings dating back to the Mughal, Sikh and British periods. It includes a collection of musical instruments, ancient jewelry, textiles, pottery, and armory. There are important relics from the Indus Valley civilization, Gandhara and Graeco-Bactrian periods as well as some Tibetan and Nepalese work on display. The museum has a number of Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Mughal and Pahari paintings on display. The Fasting Buddha from the Gandhara period is one of the most famous objects of the museum. The ceiling of the entrance hall features a large mural by renowned Pakistani artist Sadequain.

3. Tomb of Emporror Jahangir Lahore number 3 in list

Location : Shahdara Bagh in Lahore

Lahore is full of beautiful & historic places. Among these places Tomb of Jahangir Lahore is an eye catching place. It was built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. His son Shah Jahan built the mausoleum after the ten years of his father’s death. The Tomb contains four 30 meters high Minarets.

The white marble of the mausoleum of Jahangir is beautified with floral marble inlay and consists of an arcaded platform or takhgah that measures 84-square-meters in area. There is an octagonal minaret, rising in five segments, erected on each corner of the mausoleum. Chevrons of pink and white marble have been used to adorn the shaft of the minarets, each of which is crowned with a domed kiosk.

It covers an area of 55 acres. This tomb was built by son of Jahangir and Shah Jahan ten years after his father’s death. It has been laid-out in pattern of classical Charbagh that consists of bisecting perpendicular paths. This mausoleum is made of red sandstone with floral marble. This building has 30 meters high four minarets which add to its grandeur and magnificence.

4. Badshahi Mosque number 4 in list

Location : Iqbal Park Lahore

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The Badshahi Mosque (بادشاھی مسجد) or “Emperor’s Mosque” was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city’s best known landmarks and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.

Capable of accommodating over 55,000 worshippers, Badshahi is the second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The design of the Badshahi Masjid is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb’s father, Emperor Shah Jahan.

Like the character of its founder, the mosque is bold, vast and majestic in its expression. It was the largest mosque in the world for a long time. The interior has rich embellishment in stucco tracery (Manwatkar) and panelling with a fresco touch, all in bold relief, as well as marble inlay.

The exterior is decorated with stone carving as well as marble inlay on red sandstone, specially of loti form motifs in bold relief. The embellishment has Indo-Greek, Central Asian and Indian architectural influence both in technique and motifs.

5. Minar-e-Pakistan number 5 in list

Location : Minto Park Lahore

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Minar-e-Pakistan is one of the most popular and must-visit tourist attractions in Lahore. It is constructed of reinforced concrete, with the floors and walls rendered in stone and marble. The Minar-e-Pakistan is also known as the Minaret of Pakistan, Pakistan Tower or Pakistan Column. It is officially recognized as the National Monument of Pakistan.

The Minar-e-Pakistan or ‘Pakistan Day Memorial‘ has been erected as a monument in commemoration of the Lahore Resolution in Iqbal Park. This was the first official declaration to establish a separate homeland for the Muslims living in the subcontinent, on March 23, 1940. The government and people of Pakistan now celebrate this day as Pakistan Day, a national holiday, each year.

The Minar-e-Pakistan was designed by Murat Khan, an architect of Central Asia. He was a graduate of St. Petersburg University and originally belonged to Dagestan, USSR. It was built by ‘Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company’, a famous construction company. The base of the tower or minar is raised approximately four meters from the ground.

The Minar is a blend of Mughal and modern architecture. It bears a bold design. The base platform is shaped like a five-pointed star, and it encloses crescent shaped pools. It rises up to approximately 13 meters, forming a sculpted flower-like base. From this point, the Minar-e-Pakistan tapers as it rises. There are ten marble slabs of seven-feet height and two-feet width. Ninety-nine names of Allah can be seen written on the base, all around the Minar. Other inscriptions include excerpts from the speeches of Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah in English, the National Anthem in Urdu and Bengali and a verse by Dr. Allama Iqbal.

6. Shalimar Garden Lahore number 6 in list

Location : G. T. Road, Lahore

Shalimar Garden Lahore is another master piece of the Mughal Architecture. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan has constructed in 1641 AD. Shalimar Garden is located near baghbanpura.

It’s beautiful Mughal Work attracts the tourist towards this royal garden. The Shalimar Gardens were used as the Royal pleasure garden by the Mughals during the 16th to the 19th century.

The beautiful Shalimar Gardens are divided into three parts on different levels. The entire garden with its tanks, fountains and flower beds cover an area of 80 acres. The idea of making Shalimar Gardens was strongly influenced by the gardens of the same name in Kashmir.

7. Gulabi Bagh Gateway (built 1655) number 7 in list

Location : GT Road Lahore, Pakistan

The Gulabi Bagh Gateway is the last remnant of a pleasure garden built by the Persian noble Mirza Sultan Baig in 1655. In its heyday the garden measured 250 gaz on a side (according to the scholar Ebba Koch, 1 gaz is likely equal to 0.81 or 0.82 meters). The site could not have functioned as a garden for long, as it was converted in 1671 into a tomb for Dai Anga with her mausoleum occupying the center of the property. Gradually over the centuries the garden was encroached upon by urban development so that the only remaining portion of the garden is the narrow yard running from Gulabi Bagh to Dai Anga’s Mausoleum.

8. Hiran Minar, Sheikhupura outskirts of Lahore

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Hiran Minar is a famous place located on distance of 43km northwest from Lahore and 9km from Sheikhupura. It’s a beautiful 100 foot high Tower named as Hiran Minar means (Deer Tower). The structure consists on large water tank with pavilion which is now main entrance.

This minar (tower) was built by Emperor Jahangir in 1606 for a beloved antelope. Hiran Minar is also called a royal hunting ground. Many people daily visit this place for enjoying and boating.

As it stands today after the collapse of its canopy on the top, is 110 feet in height. There are 108 steps on a spiral staircase lead to the summit of the minaret where rest the remains of Mansraj. (Now the door of stairs is closed) The top of minaret was provided an eye catching sight in the around areas. In 1634, when Emperor Shah Jahan stayed at his father’s favorite hunting site for three days, he ordered the construction of a baradari surrounded by a water tank. At the center of each side of tank, a brick ramp slopes down to the water, providing access for royal animals and wild game. Baradari is standing in the water tank as the whole structure was made water proof which stood so, for centuries.

9. Hazuri Bagh

Location : Walled City, Lahore, Pakistan

The Hazuri Bagh garden was built in 1813 by Maharajah Ranjit Singh to commemorate the capture of the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Shah Shujah of Afghanistan. The garden is bound on the east side by the Lahore Fort and to the west by Badshahi Mosque. This originally served as the Serai of Aurangzeb, a forecourt to the Badshahi Mosque where the Mughal ruler would approach and enter the mosque with great pomp and ceremony. By enclosing the north end with a gate and the south end with the Roshnai gate, Ranjit Singh’s architects were able to create a walled space adequately sized for a commemorative garden.

The major monument in the garden is the baradari at its center. It is primarily constructed of marble stripped from numerous Mughal monuments in Lahore, many of which remain standing despite the removal of their marble cladding. Ranjit Singh used the pavilion as a place to hold court, and the mirrored ceiling in the central chamber is a testament to this function.

10. Masjid Wazir Khan

Location : Shahi Guzar Gah’ Lahore Pakistan

The Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ‘a mole on the cheek of Lahore’. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634–1635 AD, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Hakim Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and a governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan, a popular title bestowed upon him (the word Wazir means ‘minister’ in Urdu and Persian). The mosque is inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate. The mosque contains some of the finest examples of Qashani tile work from the Mughal period.

11. Anarkali Tomb (built 1615)

Location : Islampura, Lahore

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The tomb of ‘Anarkali’ traditionally belongs to Nadira Begum, the lover of Prince Salim (the later Emperor Jahangir). She was accused of having an illicit love affair with Prince Salim and was executed in 1599. When Jahangir assumed the throne six years later he ordered the construction of her tomb which was finished in 1615.

The tomb originally stood at the center of a large garden in the manner of the Asaf Khan Tomb.

In the early 1800s it was occupied by Kharak Singh. In 1851 it was converted to a Christian church. At the present time it is used as a library for the Punjab Records Office.

You can discover more historical places and interesting landmarks of Lahore city on Locally Lahore. Locally Lahore is a must have Travel and Tourism related App, which allows you to explore Lahore and it covers up all point of interests that you are looking for. It also gives you information about latest events and happenings in Lahore.

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11 most visited historical places of Lahore city

11. Anarkali Tomb (built 1615)

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