4.—LA MARTINIERE COLLEGE.
On approaching Lucknow, via Fyzabad, this imposing edifice is the first to attract the attention of the traveller, as the Oudh and Rohilkhund Railway train passes over the Gumti Bridge, which was opened for traiffc in 1872.
In the distance appear other buildings, but none can vie, in majestic grandeur, with La Martiniere, which forcibly reminds the traveller that he is entering the renowned “City of Palaces and gardens.”
In front of the building is an artificial lake of considerable depth, in the centre of which stands a lofty fluted masonry column,[1] said to be not unlike the monument to the Duke of York, 123 feet high.
The wings on either side of the mansion, now used as class-rooms and dormitories, were constructed after the death of the General. They are built in a semi-circular form on either side of the central platform, each Wing consisting of two stories.
The main building, which faces east, stands on an elevated basement forming a platform partly paved with stone in front of the entrance-hall and approached by a broad flight of steps.[2] The superstructure is surmounted with life-size figures of men and women and the several faces are flanked with circular towers whose crenalated tops are raised between rampant lions. The summit of the grand central tower is fitted with a staff on which is displayed the Union Jack on Sundays and on other special occasions. The interior of the building is elaborately ornamented with arabesque decorations and the ceilings of the halls with bas-reliefs illustrative of classical subjects.
La Martiniere, also known as Constantia, (from the College motto “Labore et constantia”), was built, in the time of King Asuf-ud-daula, by General Claude Martin, who was apparently his own architect. When the building was under construction, the King, seeing the
- ↑ The question is at times asked. whether or no there are steps leading up through this column to the summit. While the monument was under repair, Mr. T.G. Sykes, the present Principal of the College, took the opportunity of ascending the scaffolding, 16th November, 1885, and satisfied himself that the column is solid, with no internal means of ascent. Mr. Sykes is believed to be the only European gentleman who has been to the top.
- ↑ During the abnormal rise of the river Gumti, on 13th September, 1894, which was as unexpected as it was unprecedented, the water rose to a level with the top of the sixth step leading to the platform in front of the main building, and was 4 feet 212 inches deep in the class-rooms and Sergeant Superintendent's quarters when the flood was at its greatest height, the highest ever recorded during the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
