Gingee Fort

(Tamil: செஞ்சி கோட்டை ) also known in the corrupt form as Gingee Fort & as Chinji .. or Jinji .. in Tamil Nadu, India is one of the few surving forts in Tamil Nadu — which is much more popular for its temples than forts. It lies in Villupuram district, 160 km (100 mi) from the state capital, Chennai, and is close to the union territory of Pondicherry. So well fortified was this place that Shivaji ranked it as the "most impregnable fortress in India" and it was called the "Troy of the East" by the British. The fort consists of three hills, connected by walls enclosing an area of 7 km². It was built at a breathtaking height of 800 feet (240 m), and protected by an 80-foot (24 m) wide moat.
The fort at Gingee was declared a National Monument in 1921 and was under the Archeological Department. Recently the Tourism Department of India has tried to popularise this remote and oft forgotten fort in Tamil Nadu.