Place · Dutch colonial fort · Sri Lanka
Galle Fort
Also known as Galle Fort, Dutch Galle, Point de Galle
The Portuguese-and-Dutch fortified port at the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, taken by the Portuguese in 1588 and rebuilt by the Dutch after 1640 as the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Ceylon. Thirty-six hectares of ramparts, warehouses, churches and houses survive almost intact as a lived-in heritage town, with the Dutch Reformed Church of 1755 and the lighthouse of 1848 as its anchors. The British took it in 1796 and used it until 1948. UNESCO 1988.
- Function
- Authority & administration
- Tradition
- Standard reference and local gazetteers; ASI, state archaeology and INTACH records where applicable.
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 6.025, 80.217
Connections (1)
- Site withinGalle
Galle Fort is the Dutch-rebuilt (1663) fortification standing on the headland at the entrance of Galle harbour — the specific colonial-era structure inside the much older port city of Galle, in continuous use as a trading harbour from Anuradhapura-era antiquity. The Portuguese had put up an earlier earthwork in 1588; the Dutch wrapped it in bastioned ramparts after taking the city in 1640; the British kept the whole ensemble after 1796 and modern Galle grew around it. UNESCO World Heritage 1988.