Ports, forts and a modern skyline: Colombo, the back story

About Ports, forts and a modern skyline: Colombo, the back story

By the ULTIMATE Sri Lanka Editorial Team

Colombo grew around one of the finest natural harbours on the trade routes of the Indian Ocean, visited for centuries by Arab, Persian and Chinese merchants.

A trading port

Long before Europeans arrived, Colombo’s harbour was a stop for traders crossing the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese built a fort here in the 16th century, and the Dutch took it in 1656, leaving buildings such as the Old Dutch Hospital and the Wolvendaal Church.

British Ceylon

The British took control of the coast in 1796 and of the whole island by 1815, when the Kandyan kingdom fell. Colombo became the capital of Ceylon, and the Fort filled with grand commercial buildings, the clock tower lighthouse and the Galle Face Hotel.

Every chapter of the island’s history left a building along Colombo’s seafront.

Independence and after

Ceylon became independent on 4 February 1948 and took the name Sri Lanka in 1972. The official administrative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, on the edge of Colombo, but Colombo remains the commercial capital and the country’s largest city.

Colombo today

Today the city mixes colonial streets, Buddhist and Hindu temples, mosques and churches, the leafy villas of Cinnamon Gardens and new towers on the seafront, crowned by the Lotus Tower.

Our advice: give Colombo at least a day: start in the Fort and Pettah markets in the morning, cool off in a museum, and end on Galle Face Green at sunset.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ports, forts and a modern skyline: Colombo, the back story before you go.