Chitral Fort has a commanding position on the river. It remains the seat of the mehtar's descendents so you can't enter it without an invitation, although, if you knock on the main gate one of the chowkidars may let you stick your head around the door to see the old cannons in the courtyard. The entrance on the southeast end is to the residential quarters, while the one facing Shahi Bazaar was for the royal guard.
The most interesting side faces the river and is best viewed from the far end of Naya Bazaar or from across the river. The ornate building up the road southwest towards the police station was the royal courthouse. The walls were once plastered, but its loss reveals the sturdy stone and wood structure beneath. The fort's water supply lies outside the walls, a fact that caused considerable problems for the British soldiers besieged here in 1895.
