"Fort St. Angelo where Father Time Sleeps"- cont'uing Kerala way

This is one place on the Arabian coast of India where history has stood still. Approximately 3 kms west of Kannur city is Fort St.Angelo,dramatically silhouetted against the sea, its massive laterite blocks give this fort, built by the Portuguese in 1505, a faintly menacing air. At one time nearly thousand people lived within Fort St. Angelo´s walls, from where one can enjoy commanding views of the sea and of the legendary ´Moplah Bay´. Here the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch, the French and finally the English have fought amoung themselves and against local rulers. We can still see the influence of the British in Thalassery and that of the French in Mahe. They established their supremacy in the region by exploiting the discord amoung local rulers. Portugeuse ruled supreme till 1663 when the Dutch captured the fort. Years later the British led by General Abercrombie, besieged the fort on December 14, 1790. They later rebuilt it and made it their most important station in the region.
The most interesting thing currently in the Fort is the 450 year old stone inscription which puzzled everyone for a long time. A skull symbol, which was part of it gave rise to strange rumours. But recently Constable Satyan of the Tourism Police Department with the help of some visiting Dutch scholors deciphered the inscription which turned out to be written in an old Dutch dialect. Please see the fotographs for more details. Constable Satyan is an authority on the history of the Fort and has just won this years state government award for the best tourism police officer and is stationed at the Fort itself.
Without doubt, visiting this wonderful place was a moving experience for me. There is a lot more to see for a prospective visitor to Kannur and there are good hotels to stay in the city. This is what Wickiepedia, the well known web encyclopedia had about this fort - 'St. Angelo Fort (Kannur Fort) is also known as Kannur Kotta is a fort facing Arabian Sea is situated 3 km from Kannur town of Kerala state, south India.

Don Francisco De Almeida of Portuguese constructed this fort in 1505 AD. The Dutch captured the fort from Portuguese in 1663 they sold the fort to the king Ali Raja of Arakkal kingdom.

In 1790 the British seized the control over this fort and became one of the important military centres of the British in Malabar.

Many people believe that there is a secret tunnel in this fort. This tunnel was built underneath the sea to the Thalassery Fort which is 21 km from Kannur fort. This under passage is said to be used by soldiers to escape.

The Moppila Bay Harbor and Arakkal Mosque are near the fort.

The fort, is now under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India.

On the whole it was a very interesting outing indeed. This place was indeed like a door to the past, a bygone era which always had an air of mystery indeed! I hope my amatuerish way of explaining really proves to be helpful to you all. Take care and enjoy your exploration where ever you are.
Cheers,
Kris Kandath