Agra has a number of monuments ranging from the world known structures such as Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri complex to the lesser known tombs such as Sikandra, Mariam's tomb, Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb and Chini ka Rauza to the ones that are not even known to the locals and their remnants lie helter-skelter and no attention being paid to them. Ram Bagh and Swami Bagh Temple at Dayal Bagh, may not be so famous but have an indelible impression in the hearts of the natives of the city with their own history to boast of.

Agra Fort

Babur destroyed the damaged old fort of Agra and raised this grand group of monuments instead in red sandstone. Started in 1565, it took eight years and thirty-five lakh rupees to complete its construction and is second only to Taj in Agra. Qasim Khan Mir Barr-u-Bahr supervised the construction of this building.One of the large fortified residences built at various strategic points of Mughal Empire; it had over five hundred buildings, as mentioned by Abul Fazal in his chronicles. Most of the buildings added later use marble as the chief construction material. At the time of Akbar, River Yamuna touched the fort and thus, a number of ghats were built here. Some of these ghats were meant to load and unload goods transported through river and other covered passages were for use by the harem inmates only.

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri was planned as a great town by Akbar with great care and planning in the honor of Sheikh Salim Chisti but had to be abandoned only after fifteen years due to scarcity of water in the town. Sheikh Salim Chishti was a Sufi saint who blessed the Akbar with his first son and heir, who was named Salim after him and later came to be known as Jehangir. The town was otiginally named Sikri after the village, where it was founded but its twin city Fatehpur (Victory Town) was erected to celebrate Akbar's conquest of Gujarat in June 1573.

However, ruins of the temple dating back to 12th century suggest the reign of Rajputs in the area long before Mughals took over the area. The two mosques in the village of Sikri have inscriptions, which announce their conception in 1314 under Mohd. Khilji. There have been records that Babur renamed the village 'Sikri' as 'Shukri', meaning 'thanks to the god'. It was also the famous dwelling place and khanqah of Shiekh Salim Chishti, the famous Sufi saint whom Akbar revered for blessing him with child.