Surat Castle is situated on the banks of river Tapti in Surat, which is the textile city of India. It is considered as one of the ancient monuments of the city located at a distance of 280 km from Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat. Surat Castle is a prominent tourist attraction of the city owing to its historical importance.

The location of the city and its prosperity attracted numerous travelers and people with bad intention who wanted to take over the city, the prominent ones being the Portuguese. The main objective of construction of the castle was to protect the city from foreign attacks. It was during the period of King Sultan Mahmood-III, the king of Ahmadabad, the construction of castle commenced. His anger regarding frequent devastation of the Surat city laid the foundation for construction of this strong castle. The responsibility of constructing the castle was laid on the shoulders of Safi Agha who was basically a Turkish soldier rewarded with the title of Khudawand Khan. The castle came up in 6 years time span between the year 1540 and 1546 at an area of 1 acre on the banks of Tapti River.

The castle contains huge towers which are round in shape with a height of 12.2 meter. The walls of the tower are very wide with approximately 4.1 meter width. In order to ensure high strength for the building, the component units were fastened together using iron strips. The various joints around the caste were filled using melted lead to provide additional strength to sustain terrific attacks by the enemies. The most striking attraction of the castle is the gateway which opens towards the east direction and contained several projecting spikes on its door to stop the entrance of enemies. The castle was also provided with a moat which was connected to the river and the moat always had water in it. The access to the castle was through a drawbridge which could be closed when required thus restricting the enemies from getting access to the castle. Many of the architecture and constructional grandeur in this castle has vanished over time. However, it still remains a major tourist attraction among the people visiting the city.

As per the historical evidences, Surat city has never been attacked by Portuguese after the construction of the Castle. The castle is presently a prime location for various government offices.

Timing of Surat Castle

Surat Castle remains open from dawn to dusk on all weekdays.

How to Reach Surat

By Road

The nearest prominent city is Ahmadabad located at a distance of 234 km and Mumbai is located at a distance of 297 km. Surat has excellent bus connectivity between other cities of Gujarat and neighboring cities of Maharashtra.

By Rail

Surat is an important railway station in the western railway zone. It is well connected with most of the Indian cities and has regular trains from Mumbai.

By Air

Surat has a domestic airport which connects the city with other metro cities of the country.

Best Time to Visit

Visit this city and the castle during winter months of October to February when the climate remains very pleasant.