Chapora Fort, located in Bardez, Goa, sits high above the Chapora River. It overlooks the Arabian giving a picturesque landscape. It was constructed in 1617, five years after work began on Fort Aguada.
The current laterite bastion was built by the Portuguese in 1617 on the site of an earlier Muslim structure. Before the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510, this location was the site of another fort. The fort changed hands several times after Portuguese acquired Bardez. Trying to end the Portuguese rule in Goa, Prince Akbar joined his father’s enemies, the Marathas in 1683 and made this place his base camp. It became the northern outpost of the Old Conquests. After the Portuguese recovered from an encounter with the Marathas, they strengthened their northern defenses and provided shelter to the people there.
Across the Chapora river, the Hindu ruler of Pernem, the Maharaja of Sawantwadi who was an old enemy of the Portuguese held the fort for two years after it fell to the Marathas in 1739 in its first test. When Goa’s border moved northwards with the acquisition of Pernem as part of the New Conquests, the fort lost its military significance towards the end of the century.
It is a pleasant place to wander that offers fantastic views north across the Chapora river to Pernem, south over Vagator and also far out to the Arabian Sea in the West. It has steep slopes on all sides. The way to the fort is also a steep slope which you have to walk to. Today, the fortress lies in ruins but is still visited by many tourists. However, the main incentive to climb up here is the splendid view of nearby Anjuna and Vagator beaches.
Frequent buses ply from Mapusa to Anjuna and Vagator with the stopover near the fort. This fort is near Vagator beach. One of the most loved forts of Goa, this place gained more popularity after it was featured in the Bollywood movie, Dil Chahta Hai.