Tranquebar

A former Danish settlement

While Pondicherry has its French legacy, Tranquebar is distinguished by its Danish past. It was once a fort established by the Danish for exports of spices, silks and other textiles.

Its relics include a gateway sporting the Danish Royal Seal, a fort which is Scandinavian in appearance, a string of imposing colonial bungalows, and two early 18th-Century churches.

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Special Places to Stay in Tranquebar

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Bungalow on the Beach ($$)

The 19th-Century Collector's Residence in picturesque Tranquebar has recently been transformed from a ruin into a heritage hotel by the Neemrana Group.

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Things to see and do in Tranquebar

Tranquebar

Tranquebar was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845, founded by the Danish East India Company. It is spelled Trankebar or Trangebar in Danish, which came from the native Tamil Tarangambadi, meaning "place of the singing waves". It is located about 100 km south of Pondicherry, near the mouth of a tributary of the Kaveri. It was sold to Britain in 1845, after which much of it fell into disrepair.

Right on the oceanfront is Fort Dansborg, built in 1620 AD by a Danish captain named Ore Gedde, which was the residence of the governor and other officials for about 150 years. It is now a museum hosting a collection of artifacts from the time of the Danish presence in the region. The Churches, the fort and the city gates are now being restored.

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