heritage trail map pondicherry

Heritage Trail to-wall construction with high garden walls and elaborate gateways. The façades are divided into smaller panels by the use of vertical pilasters and horizontal cornices, and feature flat or segmental arched windows with bands and louvered wooden shutters. Wooden balconies over iron brackets and continuous parapets with simple ornamental features are common. Most French houses were built on similar ground plans with few variations and with full or partial street frontage. The main façades have colonnaded porticoes to provide better protection from sun and rain, and also act as a transition space to the garden court. A major change from the original French model is the use of flat terraced roofs instead of the pitched roofs of the Parisian villas. The walled gardens form private interior courts on to which the rest of the building spaces open. The interiors of the houses are usually more ornate than the exterior. High ceilings, tall arched doors and windows mark the rooms, and in the case of two s toried buildings, vaulted staircases wind up. Often the inclined window shades were made of light materials like wood or metal. Colonial History of Pondicherry Portuguese set up a f actory 1523 Dutch buy textiles 1618 Danes set up a factory 1624 First French settlement 1674-1693 Dutch rule 1693-1700 French rule 1700-1761 British rule 1761-1765 French rule 1765-1778 British rule 1778-1783 French rule 1783-1793 British rule 1793-1815 French rule 1815-1954 Pondicherry Originally the native Tamil town developed around the nucleus of a group of temples in the northern section, and the streets were laid along the east-west axis, onto which the back-to-back row houses opened. These streetscapes with continuous wall-to-wall construction are very different in character from the French streetscapes. Their exterior façades mainly feature a thalvaram (street veranda with a lean-to roof over wooden posts) - a social extension of the house providing shelter for the pedestrians - and a thinnai (semi- public veranda space) with masonry benches for visitors and pilgrims. These “talking-streets”, so called because of their intimate scale and interactive nature, are typical of vernacular Tamil architecture, and the entire street stretch is homogeneous because of connecting elements like lean-to- roofs, cornices (horizontals), and pilasters and engaged columns (verticals) with ornamental parapets, which define the skyline. All houses are similar, but no two houses are exactly the same. The thinnai marks the sensitive transition space after which the i s t o r y o f P o d i c e r y P n d i c h e r r y " i s h e r e n c i t e r p e t a t i o o f t e o r i g i a l a m e " P u d u c h r i " e a n i n g ' n w s e t t l e m n t ' . x c a v a i o n s a t A r i k a e d u , b o u t 7 k m s t o t h e s o t h o f t h e t o w s h o w t h t t h e o m a n s m e h r e t t r a d t h e s c e n t u y A . T h e t r a d i n c l u d e d d y e d t x t i s , o t t e y a n d m i - p e c i o u s t o n e s . T h e f i d i n g s a r e n o w i s p l a y e d i n t h e o n d i e r r y u s e u . o d i c h e r y w a s p a t o f t e P a l l a v a , t h C h o l a a d P a n d y a m p i r s f r o t h e 4 t h t o 4 t h c e u r i e s , n d t h r e a f e r i t e c a m e p a r t o f t h V j a y a g a E m p i r e f o l l o w e d s l m i c r I n 5 2 1 t e P o r t u e s e w e e t h f i r s t u r o p e a o r e u r n o t r a d e i n t e x t l e s . I n t h e 1 7 t h n t u r h e u t a n d t e D a n e s f o l l o w e d s t T e f l o u i s i n g t r a d e a t t r a c t d t h e r e c h t o s t a b l i s h a t t l e m e n t i n 1 7 4 . n d e r G o v r n o s s u c h a F r a n ç o i s M a t i n a d D u p l e i x , i t g r e w i n t o a r o e n t f r t i f i e d t o w n a n a n i m o r t a t p o r t o f c a l l . I n 7 4 6 t e B r i t i s h l o s t o r t S t . G e o r g e i n M a d r a s t D u p l e i x , a d r e a l i a t e d y c a p t u i n g P o n d c e r r y 1 7 6 a n d a z i n g t t o w n t o t h e g r o n d , s p a r i n g o l y a f e w s t u c t u r e s . H o w e v e r t h e T e a t y f P a r i s r t u r n d P o n d i c h r r y t t h e r e c . T e r e o v a l o f f o t i f i c t i o n s l e d t o f l a t t n e d a m p r t s , w h i c h f o r h e b u l e v a r s o f P o n d i c h e r r y t o d a y . A s t o m w a t r c a n l s e p a r a t e d t h e F r e n c h a n d T a l u a r t r s , a s t r e t s w e r e i i n t h f o r o f a r i d . y 1 7 8 m c o f t o l d t w o f P o n d i c r r y , a s w k n o w i t t o a y , h a d b e e n l a i d o t a n d r e b t o n i t s f o m e f o u n d a t i o n s . H e r t a g e W a l k s T e o l d t o w n h a u n i q c h a r m , w h i c h a p t i v a t e s t e h e a r t s o f v s t o r s . T o e x p e r i e c e t h e s p i r i t o f P o n d i c h r r y i t s s s e n t i a l t o w l k t h o u g t h e o d t o w n a d c l o s e l y o s r v e t e n a t r e o f i s a r c h t c t u r a t r d i t i o n s . W i t h v i e w o f o f e r i n g a s e t v e r e v e a t n o f t e c i t y t o t o r i s t s a n t h e c t z e s t h e m l v e s , I N T A C H ( I n d n N a t i o n a T r u s t f o r A r t & C u l t u r l H r i t a g ) h a p l a n n e d t h i s H e r t g e W a l k o f o n i c h e r r y . h e r e a e v e r y f e w m o n m e n t l b u i l d i n g P o n d i c h r r y , i t s a c h i t e c t u a l c h a a c t e i s a r e s l t o f h n d r d s o f F e n c h n d T a i h o u s e t h a t c r a t e t h ' m i l i e u ' o r e e m b e ' . T h i s q u a t y f t h s t r e t s c a p e s i s t d a y t r e a t e n e d y t h w i e s p r a d d s t r u c t i o o f t a d i t i o n a h u s e s , e s e c i a l l y i n t h e m i l p a r . I f t s h r i t a g e i s o b e r o t e c e d t h n i t i s i m o r t a t t o p e s e r v a l l t h e s h o u s e o n d c h r r y a s t w o d i s t i n t p a r t : t h e r e n c h a n d t e T a m i l . T h e F e n c h u a r t r h s s t r u c t r e s i n t e E r o p a n c l a s s i c a l s t y l e , w r e a t h e b l d g s i n t h e T a m i l q r t e a r e i n t h e v e r n a c u a r s t y l e o f T a i N u . T h e t w o s t y e s a v e i n f l u n c e d e a c h o t h r w i t h t r e s t t h a t m n y b u l d i n s i b o t p a r t f t h e t o w n a e a h r m o n i o u s b l e o f u r o p e a a T a m i l a c h i t e c t u a l p a t t e r n s . Walk One: The French Quarter house is entered through a finely carved wooden door. Once inside, the mutram (colonnaded courtyard) becomes the central family space around which the various other spaces are functionally arranged. Some houses have several courtyards. Within the intimate fabric of the Tamil town an interesting morphology of built-form is observed, ranging from the simple country tiled single storied houses of the old Hindu quarters, to the two-storied houses with considerable colonial influence of the later Hindu and Christian quarters, to the more elaborately ornamented and colourful houses of the Muslim quarters. On the whole, a synthesis of two varying styles is evident in many buildings. Especially in the case of some two- storied Tamil buildings, the ground floor is usually Tamil type with thinnai , thalvaram, pillared courtyard and carved wooden doors, while the first floor displays French influence through fluted pilasters, columns with capitals, arched windows, plaster decorations and end-ornament elements. Walk two: The Tamil Quarter History of Pondicherry E F F E O / F L I N T A C H The French quarter developed along the beach and around the present Bharathi Park, which is surrounded by stately government buildings. Residential villas extend on either side interspersed by institutional structures. In general the buildings fall into two main categories: residential, which form the majority, and are simple and varied, and public, which are set amidst large plots with fenced enclosures. French building models were adapted to suit local climatic conditions. The street façades are usually characterised by continuous wall- T o s h a k P a t e l Published by INTACH, Pondicherry December 2007 Vysial Street P o n d i c h e r r y M u s e u m For guided tours, please contact: Tourist Information Centre (Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation) 40 Goubert Avenue, Pondicherry - 605 001 Tel : 2339497 / 2334575 INTACH Heritage Center* (Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage) 62 Rue Aurobindo, Pondicherry - 605 001 Tel : 2225991 / 2227324 *Visit Architectural Heritage Exhibition Pre-colonial History Pallava Dynasty 325- 900 Chola Dynasty 900-1279 Pandya Dynasty 1279- 1370 Vij ayan agar E mp ir e 1370- 1614 (under nayakship of Gingee) S ul ta n at e of Bij apur 1614- 1638 It is the cross-influence of building patterns in the Tamil and French quarters that gives the old town its distinct architectural vocabulary. At present, the g uided walks are offered b y prior appointment. You can also discover the town on your own with the help of this Heritage Trail map. Rue Law de Lauriston Rue Cazy I N T A C H Rue Dumas R a y u e z I N T A C H N C I T A H N C I T A H Rue de la Marine R ranço Marin ue F is t N I T A C H

heritage trail map pondicherry

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