Story
The story of Galle Fort
Long before any walls stood here, Galle was a busy port, already marked on Ptolemy's world map of 125–150 CE and trading with Greece, Arab countries and China. In 1505 the Portuguese, led by Lourenço de Almeida, made their first landing on the island in this harbour. In 1588, attacked by King Raja Singha I of Sitawaka, they returned to Galle and built a small fort of palm trees and mud, which they called Santa Cruz.
In 1640 the Dutch, with some 2,500 men and allied with King Rajasinhe II, captured the fort and gave it the form you see today. They also built an elaborate system of sewers, flooded at high tide, which carried the waste out to sea. The British took over on 23 February 1796, adding a lighthouse on the Utrecht Bastion and a gate between the Moon and Sun Bastions.
The fort withstood the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, and UNESCO lists it as a World Heritage Site.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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More highlights in Galle
- Galle LighthouseThe Galle Lighthouse (also known as Pointe de Galle Light) is an onshore lighthouse in Galle, Sri Lanka and is operated and maintained by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. It is Sri Lanka's oldest light station.
- Groote Kerk, GalleThe Groote Kerk or Dutch Reformed Church is located within the Galle Fort in Galle, Sri Lanka and is situated near the entrance to the fort.
- National Museum of GalleThe National Museum of Galle (Galle National Museum) is one of the national museums of Sri Lanka.