Galle Fort

Galle Fort is the walled old town of Galle, on a headland in the Bay of Galle on the south-west coast of Sri Lanka, about 120 km south of Colombo. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, it is a living town of houses, churches, mosques, shops and cafés inside Dutch-era ramparts, and it suits walkers, photographers and anyone with half a day to spare on the south coast.

From the Portuguese palm-trunk fort to Dutch and British rule

Galle was a busy port long before Europeans arrived. The Portuguese first landed in 1505 under Lourenço de Almeida, and in 1588, after an attack by King Rajasinghe I of Sitawaka, they built a small fort of palm trunks and mud named Santa Cruz, later adding a watchtower and three bastions. In 1640 a Dutch force of about 2,500 men allied with King Rajasinghe II took the fort, and from 1649 the Dutch rebuilt it on a much larger scale, adding most of the walls seen today up to the early 18th century. The British took control in 1796. One local explanation links the name Galle to the Portuguese word for rooster, another to a Sinhala word for a place where cattle were herded.

Fourteen bastions around the old town

Thick stone ramparts with 14 bastions, among them Sun, Moon, Star, Aurora and Flag Rock, run around the 52-hectare town and can be walked for much of their length. Zwart, or Black, Bastion is the oldest, built by the Portuguese. Flag Rock once warned ships of rocks offshore, and Triton Bastion held a windmill that pumped seawater to damp down the dusty roads. Late afternoon is the favourite time for a rampart walk and the sunset.

The Old Gate and the Dutch Reformed Church

The Old Gate of 1669 bears the VOC emblem with a rooster, to which the British later added their royal coat of arms. The Dutch Reformed Church, remodelled between 1752 and 1755, is paved with gravestones from the old Dutch cemetery and has a pulpit of calamander wood. The New Orient Hotel of 1694, built for the Dutch governor, is now the Amangalla. The lighthouse and the clock tower are the other landmarks. Church Street, Pedlar Street (Moorse Kramerstraat in Dutch times) and Leyn Baan Street are lined with restored houses used as galleries, gem shops, cafés and gelato bars.

How the fort survived the 2004 tsunami

The fort withstood the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which wrecked much of the town outside, and the Department of Archaeology has since restored it.