Fort St. George

Fort St.George achieved its name from St.George, the patron saint of England. It is situated in Rajaji Salai, completed by the British in 1640, is presently used as the offices of the Tamilnadu Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly. Today, it is the commercial heart of the city, throbbing with life from dawn to dusk, its streets packed with crowds of traders, buyers and their employees. Built by the East India Company the fort marks the beginning of Madras (Chennai) as a modern city.

It was one of the first bastions of British Power in India. Fort St. George stands amid state offices facing the sea in the east of the city, just south of George Town. It looks more like a complex of well-maintained colonial mansions than a fort. Within its solid wall and sturdy gates is much that is historic. Clive's Corner, in the house where Rober Clive's lived commemorates the Empire-builder who first learnt his trade here. It houses the tallest towering Flagstaff in India. The black charnockite pillars of the building provide an insight into British military architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries.

It once housed the British Regiment mess and later the lighthouse.This ancient prayer house solemnised the marraiages of Robert Clive and Governor Elihu Yale, who later founded the famous yale university in the U.S.A.