Museum sights in Lahore
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Lahore Fort
Built, damaged, demolished, rebuilt and restored several times before being given its current form by Emperor Akbar in 1566 (when he made Lahore his capital), the Lahore Fort is the star attraction of the Old City. Note that the museums here may close an hour or so before sunset.
The fort was modified by Jehangir in 1618 and later damaged by the Sikhs and the British, although it has now been partially restored. Within it is a succession of stately palaces, halls and gardens built by Mughal emperors Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, comparable to and contemporary with the other great Mughal forts at Delhi and Agra in India. It's believed that the site conceals so…
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Faqir Khana Museum
About 500m inside Bhatti Gate on the right-hand side, a small mansion houses the Faqir Khana Museum. It houses the treasures of the Faqir family, who have lived in Lahore since the 18th century. It is said to be the largest private collection in south Asia, with over 13,000 pieces of art.
The head of the Lahore branch of the family was a fakir (Muslim ascetic) from Bukhara whose three sons achieved prominence in the court of Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh, despite being Muslims. One son was royal physician, another a foreign minister and the third a finance minister. Largely as a result of their ties with Ranjit Singh, they amassed many valuable antiquities, as direct or hand-me…
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Lahore Museum
Try to set aside a couple of hours to make the most of a visit to the superb Lahore Museum, which has exhibits spanning the recorded history of the subcontinent. Part of the collection was removed to India after Partition but this is still the biggest and perhaps most impressive museum in Pakistan.
The museum has almost 20 galleries with items dating from the Stone Age to the 20th century. It's particularly famous for its display of Gandharan sculpture (especially the haunting Fasting Buddha), manuscripts, Qurans, its sensational array of miniature paintings, carpets, various pieces of art from the Islamic period, articles from Moenjodaro, Harappa and other Indus Valley c…
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Chughtai Museum
Originally intended to be temporary but open since 1975, the year Muhammad Abdur Rahman Chughtai died, the Chughtai Museum is just northwest of the intersection of Ferozpur Rd and Gulberg Main Blvd. Recognised as Pakistan's greatest painter and credited with a single-handed renaissance in Islamic art here, Chughtai (1897-1975) produced almost 2000 watercolours, thousands of pencil sketches and nearly 300 etchings and aquatints. He also designed many of Pakistan's stamps and coins.
It's possible to see works of Chughtai that are not in the exhibition if you contact the director, Mr Arif Rahman Chughtai (5850733) in advance. It's also probably a good idea to phone just ahea…
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