The French Quarter on foot
The French Quarter is the old French town by the sea. This walk follows the stops of Puducherry Tourism’s Ashram and French heritage walks, from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in the north to the statue of Dupleix at the southern end of the Promenade.
15 stops · about 1.9 km between the stops in a straight line
- Heritage
Golconde
Residence of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, completed in 1942 to designs by Antonin Raymond and George Nakashima and described as the first modernist building in India.
Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0 AttractionSri Aurobindo Ashram
Spiritual community founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother; the courtyard of its main building holds their samadhi.
- Heritage
Le Foyer du Soldat
Hall for veterans who served in France’s wars, on the Ashram heritage walk.
Deepak-nsk · CC0 TempleSri Manakula Vinayagar Temple
Ganesha temple in the old town, older than the French settlement and one of the best-known places of worship in Pondicherry.
Shyamal · CC BY-SA 3.0 LibraryRomain Rolland Library
Public library founded in 1827 as the Bibliothèque Publique, one of the oldest in India, renamed in 1966 after the French writer Romain Rolland.
Satdeep Gill · CC BY-SA 4.0 MuseumPuducherry Museum
Museum in a French-period building near Bharathi Park, with one of the largest collections of Chola bronzes and finds from the excavations at Arikamedu.
iMahesh · CC BY-SA 4.0 ParkBharathi Park
Shaded park at the centre of the French Quarter, beside Lok Niwas (Raj Nivas), with the white Aayi Mandapam monument in the middle.
Dr. Ajay B. MD · CC BY-SA 3.0 HeritageOld Lighthouse
The French lighthouse on the Promenade: a 29-metre tower first lit on 1 September 1836, replaced in 1979 by the new lighthouse to the south.
- Monument
Nehru Statue
Statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, on the French heritage walk by the seafront.
- Monument
Mahatma Gandhi Statue
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Promenade, ringed by eight carved pillars brought from Gingee Fort.
Richard Mortel · CC BY 2.0 MonumentFrench War Memorial
Memorial on Goubert Avenue to the people of French India who died in the First World War, inaugurated in 1938 and lit up every year on 14 July.
- Heritage
Hôtel de Ville (Old Town Hall)
The town hall of French Pondicherry on the seafront, now the Puducherry Municipal Office.
Aravindaraja · CC BY-SA 3.0 ChurchOur Lady of Angels Church
Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges on Dumas Street, built in 1855 in Greco-Roman style and facing the sea; mass is said here in French, Tamil and English.
- Monument
Joan of Arc Statue
Statue of Joan of Arc in a small garden of the French Quarter, where local players gather for pétanque.
- Monument
Dupleix Statue
Statue of Joseph François Dupleix, Governor-General of French India, first installed in 1870 and since 1979 at the southern end of the Promenade on Goubert Avenue.
