Vasai taluka in the district Thane of Konkan division has this Bassein Fort, which his very large and is situated in the Maharashtra State. This name "Bassein" is derived from the “Bacaim”, which is an Portuguese version that is connected with the tribals of Vasa Konkani of Konkon region. This region extends from the city of Mumbai to the South of Gujarat. Vasai is the named derived from the Marathi version.

This fort is also named as fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai, which is a original Portuguese version that is derived from "Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim".

There is a Vasai railway station in the Manikpur-Navghar through which the fort and village was reachable. Manikpur is the modern raised city that situated in the mid of Mumbai and Mira Road-Bhayander. As directed to the Virar railway station, this "Vasai Road" is the third one last railway station of the Western railway line.

History

Portuguese mariners founded the Khambat, an Arab Sultanate those also explored the north Konkan coast. They failed to seize this fort and renovate it in the early of 1400. This was then comes under the ruling of Portugal by the efforts of Sultanate of Cambay through the Saint Matthew as Bhayander Creek or Vasai Harbor anchored by the Portuguese brig Sao Matteus.

This fort becomes the headquarters of the north captain in the city of Goa as it came under the northern court by the Portugal. There are various placed over which this become capital of Portuguese such as Karanja Island, Bombay Archipelago, Chaul-Revdanda, Salsette island, Juhu island in connection with the city of Daman and Diu, Dharavi island, Vasai Archipelago, and extends up to the coast of Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Iran, and other Persian Gulf.

In the region of Mumbai, there was a community that is ethnic named East Indians also called as "Norteiro" at the north part of the fort.

This fort was fell in year 1739 after the attack of Marathas under the ruling of Peshwa Baji Rao's brother Chimaji Appa in the 18th century during the three year sea battle of Vasai . After this, the Marathas were taking the charge of the territory and faction against each other.

Architecture

Vasai Creek was faced through by the Bassain fort remnants. There were numerous watch towers, which was used for the observation for the movement of Indian army. There were ruins of several buildings in this fort. The basic layout of the fort is very hard as witnessed by the walls that are standing straight. There were numerous arches and facades that got eroded as the time passes. There were architectures of stone curvature in these arches that undergoes erosion, but still there were some marks that are present there. This fort shows the architecture of Portuguese of the 17th century as the facades and arches were decorated with the three chapels. There was a barrel vaulted ceiling in the last church. This church is also used as a popular site for shooting in the movies of bollywood as because of its architecture and natural walls that enclosed the Bassain fort. There are very famous movies that spotted this fort in them like Khamoshi, Ram Gopal Verma’s Aag, and Josh. This fort was surrounded by very beautiful scenes and has various plants, reptiles and beautiful butterflies all over there.

How to Reach

By Air

To reach the Vasai road, one has to first visit the Mumbai by the air.

By Rail

To reach the road of Vasai, one has to take the train from Virar to Churchgate. The person has to move towards the railway line at Bandra or Andheri and Dadar if they are came from the central railway harbour line. From the station of Vasai road to Diva, the central and western railway lines are connecting. Diva is a stop in the Thane city that has a traveling route for the long distance passengers at the central railway line. This route connects the two lines.Between the route of Diva and Dombivli, a new connection of Kopar railway station has been started. To catch the Vasai train, passengers has to reach the platform no. 3 while moved from Thane to Kopar. From the station of Kopar, it will take about one hour to visit the Vasai by train. To the route of Vasai to Dombivli, from Vasai to Diva and Panvel, and from Diva and Panvel, there were 5 trains that were moving. In the Manickpur-Navghar, there is situated a State Road Transport Bus Terminus & Station. 'Killa Bunder' and 'Fort Jetty/Quay' are the destinations for bus service to reach the Vasai fort. One can get the bus service at every half hour. Charge ofticket is about Rs 7.00 even to get off the last stop of the destination. From the western side of the railway station, one can get an auto-Rickshaw but they are not good for the security point of view as the passage is very congested and they also costs more per person. Auto Rickshaws costs about 20.00 rs per head to reach to the destination.

By Road

There was a Killibandar buses that just go direct inside the fort and as the bus depot was situated near the railway station. A person can get a bus service after every half hour. There were other services like auto rickshaws were also available to reach the destination.

Nearby Places to Visit

At the time of Portuguese, there were various buildings present here that were now ruins but by viewing the structures of these buildings one can imagine that how they were looked at their own time. There were facades and arches that covered the whole building that are beyond the imagination.

The churches were built by the Portuguese in the 17th century and these have facades with three chapels associated with the barrel vaulted ceiling.

Weather and Time to Visit

The climate in the Vasai is very tropical wet and very dry. The temperature is rarely extreme at this place and most of time there was a plentiful rainfall. The temperature ranges between 22°C to 36°C in this place. Temperature varies about 12°C to 20°C in winters but in summer temperature ranges from 36°C to 41°C.  In the months of June to October, the annual rainfall is about 80%. This is a prehumid zone and there is about 61 to 86% of humidity and average rainfall is about 2000–2500 mm. Days in the month of July were the more wettest days and the driest days in the season of winter.

Best Time to Visit

There is not a special weather to visit the Vasai, all weathers are the perfect to visit Vasai. The fort was covered with greenery in the monsoon season. However, in the monsoon season the traveling is very much difficult. The best time to visit this place are the months of October to March.

Accomodation

There are various budget accommodations, hotels, MTDC guest house, and resorts to stay with all required facilities that any one can choose easily.

ITC Grand Central

ITC Grand Central is located at Parel, which is a most paradoxical and cosmopolitan city of the state Mumbai. This hotel is basically the center for the large number of business persons as this is an architectural symbol of the old Bombay by the British Colonial. This hotel is filled with the old English charm at the time of colonial past with western and Indian hospitality. There are about single lady Eva floors, 242 guest rooms, 19 suites with a non-smoking floors associated with the security system.

Address

287,
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road,
Mumbai,
MH 400012, India

The Resort

This short is present at a very short drive from the city of Mumbai. This resort is filled with all facilities hired with 5 star deluxe facilities. There is sightseeing at Madh Marve Beach in front of the resort with a great ambience away from all the chaos.

Address

11,
Madh-Marve Road,
Mumbai West,
Mumbai,
MH 400095.00, India

Timings and Tickets

Tickets: Free

Photo Gallery

Videos