Lahore Fort

The Lahore Fort (Punjabi: شاہی قلعہ, romanised: Śā'ī Qilā; Urdu: شاہی قلعہ, romanised: Shahi Qilah; lit. 'Royal Fort') is a citadel in the walled interior of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. The fortress is located at the northern end of the Walled City and is spread over an area greater than 20 hectares (49 acres). It contains 21 notable monuments, some of which date to the era of Emperor Akbar. The Lahore Fort is notable for having been almost entirely rebuilt in the 17th century, when the Mughal Empire was at the height of its splendour and opulence.

Though the site of the present fort has been inhabited for millennia, the first record of a fortified structure at the site was that of an 11th-century mudbrick fort. The foundations of the modern fort was laid in 1566, during the reign of Emperor Akbar, in a syncretic architectural style that featured both Islamic and Hindu motifs. Additions from the Shah Jahan period are characterised by marble with inlaid Persian floral designs, while the fort's grand Alamgiri Gate was constructed by the last of the great Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb, and faces the Badshahi Mosque.