Forts and palaces in Pune

Peshwa Baji Rao I laid the foundation of his residence on a Saturday in January 1730, hence the name (shaniwar is Saturday in Marathi); it was completed in 1732 and stayed the Peshwas' seat until 1818. A fire in February 1828 burned for seven days, and what survives are the ramparts, the teak gateways and the foundations of the buildings inside. In the evening a light-and-sound show, with a separate ticket, is the only way inside after dark.

A three-storey mansion of 1807, the favourite residence of Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa, still standing on a working shopping street in Sadashiv Peth. The carved teak canopy over the entrance and the slender wooden pillars make it the finest surviving wada, the courtyard house of the Maratha nobility. Restoration goes on in phases.

Not an old palace but a red-brick memorial rebuilt between 1984 and 1988 on the site of the 1630 house where Shivaji grew up with his mother Jijabai; here in 1663 he made his night raid on the Mughal general Shaista Khan. It is a short walk from Shaniwar Wada.

A palace with Italian arches built by Aga Khan III as work for famine-hit residents of the area. During the Quit India Movement it served as a prison: Mahatma Gandhi, his wife Kasturba and his secretary Mahadev Desai were held here from 9 August 1942 to 6 May 1944. Kasturba and Mahadev Desai died in captivity, and their samadhis, memorials at the cremation sites, are in the grounds.

It was Kondhana until Shivaji's commander Tanaji Malusare fell recapturing it from the Mughals in 1670; his memorial, the Kondhaneshwar temple and the Dev Take spring are on top, with the Khadakwasla backwaters below. Walk up from Atkarwadi or drive to the summit, roughly ₹50 a car, then eat pithla-bhakri (gram-flour curry with millet bread) at the stalls. Weekends are packed.

The Iron Fort and the gentlest climb: a mostly stepped path from Lohagadwadi through four gateways to Vinchu Kata, the fortified scorpion-tail spur above the Pawna valley. One of the twelve UNESCO Maratha forts.

Shivaji's first capital, for almost 26 years, before he moved it to Raigad. The climb starts from Gunjavane village. Also on the UNESCO list.

The first fort Shivaji captured, in 1646, at the age of sixteen. At 1,403 m it is the highest hill fort in Pune district; the base village is Velhe.

Shivaji was born here in 1630. Seven gateways lead up to the Shivai Devi temple that gave him his name, the Badami Talav tank and a pavilion at the birth spot. Usually a full day, combined with the Buddhist caves of Junnar. Also on the UNESCO list.