Distance from LimeCabanas: 13 km
By car: 15 minutes
By normal bus: 30 minutes
By express bus: 20 minutes
By bicycle: 50 minutes
By train: 25 minutes
Galle Dutch Fort
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A Unesco World Heritage site
The city of Galle is the capital of the Southern Province and the third largest city in Sri Lanka.
Its history is connected with diverse foreign influences as Portuguese, Dutch and British conquered it.
There were also merchants here from China, Greece and especially Arabic countries.
The main point of attraction is the Galle Fort.
Although the Portuguese started the construction, it is called after the Dutch who completed it.
Lorenzo de Almeida, a Portuguese ship captain, pretended to be a good friend with the Sri Lankan king Dharmaparakramabahu and gained the permission to build a small campsite to protect Sri Lanka against the enemy.
He wanted to show to the king that he was doing this for the safety of Sri Lanka, but the truth was that he wanted to have a base for his own soldiers in a future battle against Sri Lankans.
Later on de Almeida used the fort as a jail for local people who fought against the Portuguese rule.
When the Dutch came they helped the Srilankan king Rajasinghe II to fight the Portuguese. But it was the Dutch themselves who became the enemy of the Sinhalese later on and took control of this place. They introduced many administrative and military features and facilities of their own to this fort.
The British army took over the Galle Dutch Fort in 1796.
There are two main entrances to the Galle Dutch fort, one from the harbour and the other from the city side, the Galle Cricket Ground. The gate is marked with the symbols of the Dutch East India Company on the inside wall and the British Monarch’s motto “Dieu est mon droit”, on the outside wall.
Some boys from the Galle Fort used to jump from the fort ramparts to the sea as a hobby. This does not seem so extraordinary as long as you find out there are numerous rocks coming out of the water with just narrow spaces between them.
Later on they converted their pastime activity into their job. Visitors to Galle can make pictures or video recordings of this risky sport discipline for certain amount of money.