The eponymous capital (pop. 50,000) of the Bagerhat District, a low-lying, flat coastal plain roughly 4½ to six hours by road from Dhaka, is home to one of Bangladesh’s great historical surprises. Once a thriving 15th-century Islamic city founded by the (so they say) benevolent, humanitarian ruler Khan Jahan Ali, it´s now famous for the also UNESCO-listed Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat. Its star attraction here is the magnificent Sixty Dome Mosque (Shat Gombuj Masjid), built around the mid-1400s, whose forest of stone pillars and multiple domes create one of South Asia’s most atmospheric religious monuments. Plus scattered around the district are ponds, shrines, brick mosques, and old causeways set amid palms and rice fields. And by the way, it´s just 45 minutes from the Sundarbans.
Read more in my post An Introduction to Bangladesh and 6 of Its Top Destinations.
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