Galle Fort & the ramparts

About Galle Fort & the ramparts

By the ULTIMATE Sri Lanka Editorial Team

Site Editor: Tara de la Motte

Galle Fort is a walled old town on a headland, built by the Portuguese, rebuilt by the Dutch and kept by the British, and still very much lived in. Its ramparts, with 14 bastions, run right round the town above the sea, and a walk along them is one of the great free pleasures of Sri Lanka, especially at sunset. Inside are lanes of colonial houses, churches, a mosque, museums, cafés and small shops. The Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Portuguese beginnings

Galle was a busy harbour long before Europeans arrived. The Portuguese reached it in the early 16th century and later built the first small fort on the headland, facing the land, to protect their trading post.

The Dutch fort

In 1640 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) captured Galle from the Portuguese, and from 1649 they rebuilt and extended the defences in stone and coral around the whole headland; many of the walls date from 1663, and the sea wall was completed in 1729. The streets inside were laid out on a grid. The British took the fort in 1796, a week after taking Colombo, and Galle remained the island’s main port until Colombo’s harbour was developed in the late 19th century.

The ramparts that the Dutch finished in the 18th century held back the sea again in 2004.

The ramparts and bastions

There are 14 bastions, with names such as Sun, Moon and Star at the landward side, and Aeolus, Clippenberg, Triton, Neptune and Utrecht along the sea. Flag Rock, at the southern tip, was a signalling station that warned ships of the rocks in the bay; today it is where locals jump into the sea and visitors gather for the sunset. The present lighthouse, on Point Utrecht Bastion, dates from the late 1930s.

Inside the walls

The Dutch Reformed Church, the Groote Kerk, was rebuilt in its present form in the 1750s and is paved with old tombstones. Nearby are the Old Dutch Hospital, the National Maritime Museum in a Dutch warehouse, the National Museum and the Meeran Mosque. More than half the people who live in the fort are Sri Lankan Moors, and the lanes mix family homes with boutique hotels, galleries, cafés and jewellers.

The tsunami and after

When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on 26 December 2004, it devastated much of Galle town and the bus station outside the walls, but the fort’s ramparts held, and the old town inside was largely spared. Restoration work followed, with support from the Netherlands.

Our advice: walk the ramparts twice, once in the cool of the early morning when the lanes are empty, and again at sunset from Flag Rock or the lighthouse; in between, wander the lanes without a plan; and remember that this is a living town, so dress respectfully and ask before photographing people.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Galle Fort & the ramparts before you go.