Fort St. George was founded in the year of 1639 at the south coastal city of Madras and was built in the memory and honor of England’s patron saint, St. George. In no time Fort Museum, Chennai became the domain of merchant activity and has been so since then, as it faces the sea and some of the fishing villages. With a number of attacks in the period of 18th century, the fort stands with a stronghold of 6 meters wall and today it serves as the headquarters in the department of administration of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and till now acts as barracks for troops to transport to various places of South India and the Andaman’s.
Inside the Fort we saw a monument named as St. Mary’s Church, which is among the oldest church of India. Wellesley House consists of Governor and other officials paintings. Several art galleries over there depict the history and roots of the tradition and culture of various Indian communities. We were welcomed and greeted by Lord Cornwallis’s marble statue. It is the hub of arms like pistols and rifles, daggers, cannon shots, baton helmets, swords, mortars, petard, etc which were used for attacking opposing enemies in Madras during the World Wars. Next was the Uniform and Medals Gallery which encompasses the uniforms of British Army and their various ranks, ceremonial dresses of the bodyguards of Madras Government, 64 medals which were issued to the soldiers of the British Government to pay honor to their bravery and courage shown by them in the battlefield etc. Other galleries which are categorized according to the events and accessories are Portrait Gallery, Miscellany Gallery, Prints and Document Gallery and The Indo French Gallery.
Though the Fort Museum, Chennai was so gigantic in its assortment and collection but we did get the time to have a glance of everything in short span of time and further left for San Thome Church, Chennai.We left the place planning to visit the next place. We all enjoyed the Museum and the surroundings well.