Lal Qila - Red Fort

When it was built: 1648
By whom it was built: Mughal Emperor Shahajahan
Nature of the building: Fort

Mughal Emperor, Shahjahan began constructing Red Fort in Old Delhi in 1638 so that it could function as a center for Mughal government. So halls of public and private audience, domed and arched marble palaces, private apartments and even a mosque, was built inside it. Lal Quila was attacked by the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah in 1739, and by the British soldiers during the war of independence in 1857.
Lal Quila, or the Red Fort, conjures up the image of red sandstone walls full of turrets and bastions. Founded on a dry moat in the northeast corner of Shahjahanabad, the walls extend up to two kilometers and are as high as 33 meters.
  -   The fort's center is Naubat Khana or the Drum House where the musicians used to play for the emperor and announce the arrival of royalty.
  -   Diwan-i-Amor, is the Hall of Public Audiences where the Emperor used to listen to the complaints of his subjects.
  -   Similarly, the Emperor held private meetings in the Diwan-i-Khas, the hall of private audiences in which the centre-piece or the Peacock Throne was later carried away to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1739.
  -   The hammams or the Royal Baths, the Shahi Burj- Shahjahan's private working area, and the Moti Masjid or the Pearl Mosque, built by Aurangzeb for his personal use-draw equal attention from the tourists.
  -   The Rang Mahal or the 'Palace of Colors' for the Emperor's wives and mistresses, display gilded turrets, mosaics of mirrors, and a ceiling overlaid with gold and silver reflected in a pool on the marble floor.
You have to enter Red Fort, Delhi through the lofty Lahore Gate, which structurally faces Lahore, now in Pakistan. You would feel thrilled to remember that several speeches were delivered by freedom fighters and national leaders of India here since the first war of independence