Bagerhat

Bagerhat, in the south of Khulna Division, holds one of Bangladesh's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the 'Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat'. Founded in the 15th century by the Muslim saint and general Khan Jahan Ali, the city once held hundreds of mosques and public buildings carved out of the mangrove-fringed delta.

Its centrepiece is the Sixty Dome Mosque (Shat Gombuj Masjid), a vast brick prayer hall whose roof is actually covered by seventy-seven domes, supported by a forest of slender stone pillars. It is the largest mosque of the sultanate period in Bangladesh and an architectural marvel of its age.

Scattered across the area are other monuments from the same era — the Nine Dome Mosque, Singair Mosque, Ronvijoypur Mosque with its huge single dome, and the tomb of Khan Jahan Ali beside a great tank said to hold crocodiles. Together they make Bagerhat an open-air museum of medieval Islamic architecture.

Khan Jahan Ali arrived in this part of the delta in the early 15th century, clearing forest, excavating tanks for fresh water, and building a city he called Khalifatabad. A revered figure, he combined the roles of administrator, military leader and Sufi saint.

After his death in 1459 the city gradually declined and much of it was reclaimed by forest, but its mosques survived. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 for its outstanding sultanate-era architecture.

The cool, dry winter from November to March is the most comfortable time to explore the open-air monuments on foot.

Avoid the hot, humid pre-monsoon months and the heavy rains of the monsoon, when sightseeing between the scattered mosques is less pleasant.