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Forts in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years, with many being built by Sri Lankan kings. These include several walled cities. These include several walled cities. With the outset of colonial rule in the Indian Ocean , Sri Lanka was occupied by several major colonial empires that from time to time became the dominant power in the Indian Ocean.
Galle Fort is in Galle, which is located at the extreme southwest corner of the island, in the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, where the shoreline turns east towards Matara and Tangalle. The fort, like most of the forts in Sri Lanka, is built on a small rocky peninsula, belonging to the sea as much as to the land.
This site may have been important in the competition between the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions in ancient Sri Lanka. In Professor Senarath Paranavithana 's book The Story of Sigiri , King Dathusena is said to have taken the advice of the Persian Nestorian Priest Maga Brahmana on building his palace on Sigirya.
Ratnapura Dutch fort, (Sinhala: රත්නපුර ලන්දේසි බලකොටුව Rathnapura Landesi Balakotuwa), was built by the Dutch in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. The Portuguese had originally constructed a fort at Ratnapura in 1620 however was later captured and destroyed by Kirti Sri Raja Singha (the second Nayaka king of Kandy ).
The fort has a structure of four bastions and is protected by the Batticaloa Lagoon on two sides and a canal on the other two sides. The fort is still in reasonable condition and currently houses several local administrative departments of the Sri Lanka government in new buildings, which are located within the old structure.
The seaside structure of the fort was just a wall with no bastions or cannons. [4] Further details of the fort have been identified from Dutch era maps. According to the maps, one side wall was 80 m (260 ft) long and the other two walls were 42 m (138 ft) in length.
[2] [3] The commander of the fort, Captain von Driberg, and his troops garrisoned at the fort managed to escape by boats to Jaffna. [4] Pandara Vanniyan and his forces were subsequently defeated by Captain von Driberg and the British troops at Kachchilamadu on 31 October 1803.Now it is located into Mullaitivu Kacheri.
Today it remains garrisoned by a detachment of the Sri Lanka Army with limited access to visitors and is being renovated with Dutch funding. [2] Buildings inside the fort include the governor's residence (King's House), Queen's House, Kruys Church, the Garrison Parade Ground, Police quarters and several buildings from the Portuguese era. [3]