About Oval Maidan and the Victorian and Art Deco ensemble
Stop in the middle of the Oval Maidan and turn slowly on the spot. To the east are the 19th-century Gothic public buildings: the Bombay High Court, the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai and the Rajabai Clock Tower. To the west, on the reclaimed strip of Back Bay, the Art Deco residential buildings and the Eros cinema answer back with curved lines, friezes and pale colors.
In 2018, UNESCO recognized both sides as a single ensemble, with 94 protected buildings. In a single glance, you see the imperial Bombay of the courts and the metropolis that was growing on the landfill, among cinemas and apartment blocks. And it's worth knowing that Mumbai has the second-largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world, behind only Miami.
