About Gateway of India
Facing the harbor, with the Taj Mahal Palace hotel across the square, the arch marks the spot where George V and Queen Mary landed in 1911, the first visit to India by a British monarch. The foundation stone was laid in 1913, George Wittet's design blended the Indo-Saracenic style with details from Gujarati architecture, and the work was only finished in 1924: 26 meters of basalt and concrete.
History added an irony to the monument: in February 1948, the last British troops left independent India by marching through it. In front, a statue of the Maratha warrior Shivaji has stood since 1961 where a statue of George V once did. And the boats to Elephanta leave from the piers next door.
