Originally the site for another fort, today at the same spot stands Chapora fort, located in Bardez Goa, very high above the Chapora River. The fort saw the ruler ship of different leaders and has witnessed the test of time over the years. The Portuguese were the dominant occupants of the fort in Bardez.
The Portuguese ruling Goa was something Akbar could not stand and hence he joined forces with his father rivals- the Marathas. In 1683 when Akbar joined the Marathas he made the Chaporafort his base for the camp. The fort stayed as the outpost in the Northern region of the old conquests.
After the fall the Portuguese army recovered themselves from the attacks of the Marathas. The Portuguese army made their Northern defenses stronger and offered shelter to all the people out there.
The older fort was replaced by the newer fort in 1717 and today what you see is the renovated fort Chapora. Enemy of the Portuguese, the Hindu ruler of Pernem was the ruler of the fort however the fort after two years of his ruler shipwas lost to the Marathas who had the fort under their rule after the ruler of Pernem.
Chapora fort location
The fort is situated at a 10 kilometer distance from Mapusa. Built by the Portuguese in 1617 at a site that was initially meant for a Muslimstructure,the Chapora fort made of red laterite bastion was built for the purpose of the watch post for the border. Several Hindu raiders raided and occupied the fort but the Portuguese were the one to finally occupy it and desert it.
Chapora fort is in ruins today but it makes for interesting tourist attraction and a place of interest for History buffs. You can still see the heads of two tunnels that were formerly supply routes for defenders. There are Muslim tombstones found in the slopes downward towards the south. They are considered as relics belonging to pre-colonial days. The main attractions here are the beautiful view of the Anjuna and vagator beaches.
Fort Aguada
Bardez was under the ruler ship of the Portuguese but it continued to face threat from several rulers like the Bahamani kings in the North, The Maratha and their galloping horsemen, the local chiefs of Goa and more. The new structure of the fort Chapora commenced in the year 1617. The fort came into existence five years after construction commenced for fort Aguada.
There are frequent buses from Mapusa to Anjuna and a stopover at Vagator near the fort. After several battles fought between the Marathas, locals and finally Portuguese, the new fort rebuilt by the Portuguese was better made with underground tunnels ensuring safe way out in case of emergency. Chapora fort does not have much to offer but ruins. It is the great history and the rulers who took over the fort and then lost only to fight back and regain control that makes it a place of attraction and worth a visit for tourists in Goa tour package.