The Walled city of Lahore, the historic city Centre, contains many buildings, bazaars, public spaces, and monuments of high cultural, architectural and historic value. Despite recent developments and over-commercialization of the area, it retains much of its intangible and tangible heritage including a high concentration of pre-colonial architecture.
Walled City Places of Interest
Wazir Khan Mosque
Wazir Khan Mosque: The Wazir Khan Mosque is 17th century mosque located in the city of Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The mosque was commissioned during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as part of an ensemble of buildings that also included the nearby Shahi Hammam baths.
Construction of Wazir Khan Mosque began in 1631 C.E., and was completed in 1635.Considered to be the most ornately decorated Mughal-era Mosque, Wazir Khan Mosque is renowned for its intricate faience tile work known as Kashi Kari, as well as its interior surfaces that are almost entirely embellished with elaborate Mughal-era frescoes.
Shahi Hammam (Royal Bath)
The Shahi Hammam, also known as the Wazir Khan Hammam, is a Persian-style bath which was built in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1635 C.E. during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. It was built by chief physician to the Mughal Court, Ilam-ud-din Ansari, who was widely known as Wazir Khan. The baths were built to serve as a waqf, or endowment, for the maintenance of the Wazir Khan Mosque.
Golden Mosque (1753)
Golden Mosque (1753): In the hustle and bustle of the dazzling Kashmiri Bazaar one cannot ignore the majestic, glittering monument the Sunehri Masjid or the Golden Mosque standing on the masonry platform, about one story above street level. It is a small mosque but a remarkably handsome building, and combines perfect symmetry of form. The mosque has three gilded domes (golden domes) which are the key features and main focus point. They also make it unique inside the Walled City of Lahore.
Due to its gilded domes this mosque is named Sunehri or Golden Mosque. The inner prayer hall is decorated with pulsating fresco work and floral designs. On the north and south of the mosque, small white dome-lets are seen, which give a fine-looking border to the site. Four tall minarets add to the exquisiteness of this mosque.
Fakir Khana Museum
Fakir Khana Museum “the largest antiques collection in south Asia” is the honor, predecessor and pride of the well-known Fakir Family whose vibrant history can be amazingly traced back hundreds of years. This Private family museum is basically inside an early 20th century house carrying a kaleidoscope of unimaginable pieces, from gems & stones, portraits & miniatures to original manuscripts of holy Quran and Relics of Islam, including the relics of the Holy Prophet.
It is a place full of history, memories and treasures. Every single artifact at Fakir Khana Museum has a story to tell. Entering the arches of the Fakir Khana Museum you truly get to know that not only this family is the proud bearer of the relics and the antiques collection but it’s also a part of an eventful history.
Nau Nihal Singh Haveli
Nau Nihal Singh Haveli is inside the walled city of Lahore and is housed in a nineteenth century Sikh period haveli of Nau Nihal Singh, the son of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. The haveli is one of the few remaining royal residences from the Sikh period in Lahore. It is an intact structure of over forty rooms with most elements of its original ornamentation preserved on the two main elevations and the interior courtyard facades.
The most important and incidentally also the better-preserved feature of this haveli is the ‘rang-mahal’, a small picture gallery on the top floor. The ‘shish mahal’ or ‘rang-mahal’, is a typical feature of both Sikh and earlier Mughal architecture and consists usually of a highly ornamental room with embellishment in the form of frescoes, mosaics with mirror pieces inlaid in stucco, decorative ceilings with painted designs and beading patterns. The rooms were used for entertainment and relaxation and opened on to a view or the courtyard. While the rest of this valuable piece of architectural heritage has lost most of the interior surface ornament due to its heavy use as a school building for over a hundred years the room has been saved due to its location on the top floor and its fame as the haunted room was also a reasonable deterrent.
Gates of the Walled City Lahore
In the Mughal days, the Old City was surrounded by a 9-meter-high brick wall and had a rampart running around it which served as a protection for the city. A circular road around the rampart gave access to the city through thirteen gates. Some of the imposing structures of these gates are still preserved.
- The Raushnai Gate, or the “Gate of Light” is between the royal mosque and the citadels.
- The Kashmiri Gate is so called because it faces the direction of Kashmir.
- The Masti Gate is not the actual name but is rather twisted and pronounced instead of “Masjid,” which means a mosque.
- The Khizri or the Sheranwala Gate. As already noted, the river in former times flowed by the city walls, and the ferry was near this spot. The gate was, therefore, named Khizri, after the name of Khizrelias, the patron saint, according to the Mahomedan belief, of running waters and streams, and the discoverer of the water of immortality.
- The Yakki Gate. The original name was “Zaki,” which was derived from the name of a martyr saint, who, according to tradition, fell fighting against the Mughal infidels from the north, while gallantly defending his city
- The Delhi Gate is so called because of its opening on to the highway from Lahore to Delhi.
- The Akbari Gate was named after Mahmud Jala-Uddin Akbar, who rebuilt the town and citadel.
- The Mochi Gate is the name wrongly pronounced. It was name was actually Moti meaning a pearl. It was called so after the name of Moti Ram, an officer of Akbar, who resided here at that time.
- The Shah Almi Gate was named after Mohammed Moazzam Shah ‘Allam Bahadur Shah (the son and successor of Aurangzeb). He was a mild and generous Emperor, who died in Lahore on the 28th February 1712.
- The Lahori Gate also known as the Lohari gate has been named after the city of Lahore.
- The Mori Gate is the smallest of the gateways and as its name implies, was in old times used as an outlet for the refuse and sweepings of the city.
- The Bhatti Gate was named after the Bhattis, an ancient Rajput tribe who inhabited these quarters in old times.
- The Taxali Gate was named after the Taxal or royal mint that used to be in its neighborhood during the period of the Mahomedan Emperors.
Other Landmarks
- Begum Shahi Mosque
- Mubarak Begum Haveli
- Chuna Mandi Havelis
- Nisar Haveli
- Haveli Barood Khana
- Salman Sirhindi Ki Haveli
- Dina Nath Ki Haveli
- Mubarak Haveli
- Tomb of Malik Ayaz
- Lal Haveli
- Mughal Haveli (Residence of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh)
- Haveli Sir Wajid Ali Shah (Near Nisar Haveli)
- Haveli Mian Khan (Rang Mehal)
- Haveli Shergharian (Near Lal Khou)
