The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai is a collection of 94 buildings of great cultural importance, located in the Fort Area of Mumbai, set around the Oval Maidan, previously known as Esplanade. The Oval is flanked on the east by 19th-century Victorian Neo-Gothic constructions, like Bombay High Court, The Fort Campus of the University of Mumbai and the Old Secretariat Building among others. A famous landmark in the City of Dreams - the Rajabai Clock Tower, is also part of the Victorian side of the Ensemble, along with Watson’s Hotel, David Sassoon Library and the Elphinstone College. On the west stand the 20th century Art Deco buildings right along the Arabian Sea.
The latter consists of mostly privately-owned residential buildings and the famous Eros Cinema - the building that marked the beginning of the Back Bay reclamation along the Marine Drive back in 1935. The difference in the style of the two separate segments of The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai represents an abrupt shift in the creative aspirations that reflects in the cityscape brilliantly and has thereby rightfully earned its place in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
