The old Tamil Quarter has almost as many mansions as the French Quarter but is off most tourists' radars. Reincarnated under environmentally friendly management, this 150-year-old heritage choice, on a quiet, tree-shaded street, mixes a soaring sense of space with a teak-columned atrium, Chettinadu-tiled floors, and 10 elegantly styled rooms featuring free-standing bathtubs and solar-powered hot-water systems.
Dune Mansion Calvé
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.75 MILES
Pondy is a seaside town, but that doesn’t make it a beach destination; the city’s sand is a thin strip of dirty brown that slurps into a seawall of jagged…
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0.27 MILES
Founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo and a French-born woman, ‘the Mother’, this famous spiritual community has about 2000 members in its many departments…
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4.94 MILES
To some, the large, golden, almost spherical Matrimandir (Auroville's focal point), set amid red (cement) lotus petals and surrounded by pristine green…
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0.39 MILES
Goodness knows how this converted late-18th-century villa keeps its artefacts from disintegrating, considering there’s a whole floor of French-era…
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Institut Français de Pondichéry
0.36 MILES
This grand 19th-century neoclassical building is also a flourishing research institution devoted to Indian culture, history and ecology. Visitors can…
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0.26 MILES
Pondy may have more churches than most Indian towns, but the Hindu faith still reigns supreme. Pilgrims, tourists and the curious get a head pat from the…
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0.61 MILES
Looking out to sea, past a statue of Joan of Arc (opposite), Notre Dame des Anges was completed in 1855, and is arguably Pondy's most attractive church…
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École Française d'Extrême-Orient
0.79 MILES
This handsome heritage building and library is home to over 11,000 Indology books and a series of Sanskrit, Tamil and Manipravalam palm-leaf manuscripts…
Nearby Puducherry (Pondicherry) attractions
1. Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple
0.26 MILES
Pondy may have more churches than most Indian towns, but the Hindu faith still reigns supreme. Pilgrims, tourists and the curious get a head pat from the…
0.27 MILES
Founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo and a French-born woman, ‘the Mother’, this famous spiritual community has about 2000 members in its many departments…
3. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral
0.33 MILES
Begun in 1779 but not completed until 1791, this splendid Jesuit church (in whites, blues and yellows) is reminiscent of Goa's Portuguese-style churches,…
0.35 MILES
Once home to Governor Dupleix, the neoclassical governor's residence looks out over Bharathi Park from the north. You can't go inside.
5. Institut Français de Pondichéry
0.36 MILES
This grand 19th-century neoclassical building is also a flourishing research institution devoted to Indian culture, history and ecology. Visitors can…
0.39 MILES
Goodness knows how this converted late-18th-century villa keeps its artefacts from disintegrating, considering there’s a whole floor of French-era…
0.45 MILES
A shady green haven that's always busy, Bharathi Park faces the neoclassical governor's residence, Raj Nivas, on its north side.
0.5 MILES
Pondy's lighthouse was completed in the 1830s and functioned for more than a century before being replaced in 1979.