Visit of the Agra Red Fort. Construction of the fort, built in red sandstone, began in 1565 under the reign of Emperor Akbar and was completed in 1571 under his grandson, Shah Jahan. It marks the birth of the imperial Mughal style, a fusion of 15th-century Persian art and the pre-Mughal Indo-Islamic architectural tradition. The Agra Fort is an imposing structure: it measures 2.4 km in circumference and is enclosed by a double wall. A moat 9 m wide and 11 m deep separates the 12 m outer wall from the 21 m inner wall. Within these walls stand several palaces and mosques built of red sandstone and white marble — a veritable labyrinth of buildings forming a small city within the city. These monuments once housed private and public reception halls, summer and winter apartments, and places of prayer.
