Heritage walk is an heritage awareness tour of the distinct architectural heritage of Calcutta. It highlights the evolution of this city from where it all began, Dalhousie Square. There are two distinct walks.  First, The Heritage Walk of Dalhousie Square.  Second, The Heritage Walk along the meandering lanes and bylanes of the traditional neighbourhoods of North Calcutta.

Christened Footsteps, the Dalhousie Square Walking Tour takes people on a two kilometer (two hour) trip around some 15 buildings in the area, including the imposing Writers Building, the newly renovated Town Hall, the St John’s Churchyard and the historic Metcalfe Hall.                                 

The North Calcutta Walking Tour takes people through the meandering north Calcutta lanes and hidden courtyards of merchants and noble’s houses steeped in the history of the 300 year old city.  This tour also includes the House of Rabindranath Tagore and the Marble Palace. The tour ends with a coffee at the Coffee House.

What Others Say

The Media :  The walking tour has drawn rave reviews from almost all the newsdaily - The Statesman,  The Telegraph, The Times of India, The Asian Age, The Hindusthan Times, South China Morning Post (Bangkok), Merian Magazine (Germany),  India Today, The Outlook has published this walking tour.

The Travel Guide : The Lonely Planet’ s Rough Guide book on India has recommended the heritage walk of Calcutta in the Calcutta section of the book.

The Television : The Amul India Show, Star Plus, Doordarshan and Aaj Tak  made features on the walking tour of Dalhousie Square and North Calcutta.

The Radio :   BBC Radio covered the walking tour consecutively in their English and Bengali section.

The travel writer :   Joe Roberts, travel writer with the Times, London and author of the book on Calcutta, Abdul’s Taxi to Kalighat, draws a large part of the information from the walking tour of Calcutta.  Manish Chakraborti is a protagonist in his book.

The Specialists :  Nicholas Thomson, restorer, Windsor Castle and Richard Blurton, British Museum, UK;   Andrew Verster,  Artiste, South Africa ;  complemented the walking tour as a great learning and knowing process about this exciting city of Calcutta.

Participants in the Tour

Many important persons have taken this tour. Some of them are -

• Beneditto Amari, Italian Ambassador to India
• Mr Benincasa, Consul General, Italian Consulate, Calcutta
• Ms. Megan Marsden, British Council, Calcutta
• Andrew Verster,  Artiste and Advisor to Nelson Mandela, South Africa
• Nicholas Thomson, Restorer, Windsor Castle, London
• Karoki Lewis, Photographer, UK
• Brigid O’ Hara, Producer, BBC World Service Heritage
• Armin Linke, Photographer, Italy
• Bernard Malauzat, Counsellor for Culture, Science and Technology, Embassy of France in India
• Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director, Indo American Arts Council Inc.
• Amy McCarthy, Captain, United Airlines
• Dino J Caterini, President, Fullbright Association, USA
• Mr Sandrolini, Consul, American Consulate, Calcutta
• David and Paula Evans , British Council, Calcutta 
• Dr David Hill, Murdoch University, Australia
• Dr Rebecca Manring, Indiana University, Department of Religious Studies
• Secretary General of International Cultural and Business Association, China
• Rosemary Crill, Deputy Curator, Indian and South East Asian Collection, V & A Museum, London

Log on to www.centrearch.org for more "Heritage Walk" information & photos.

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