5/5 Miyuru J. 4 years ago on Google • 533 reviews
The
history
of
the
Galle
Fort
goes
back
to
1588
when
king
Rajasinghe
I
(1581–93)
of
Sitawaka
attacked
the
Portuguese
capital
of
Colombo
forcing
them
to
retreat
to
Galle,
one
of
the
flourishing
ports
from
the
ancient
times.
Here
they
built
a
small
fort
out
of
palm
trees,
coral
stones
and
mud.
They
called
it
the
Santa
Cruz
and
later
in
1625,
extended
it
with
a
watch
tower
and
three
bastions
and
a
Fortaleza
to
guard
the
harbour.
After
the
Portuguese
conceded
Galle
to
Dutch
in
1640,
the
fort
was
expanded
to
its
current
size
in
1643
and
they
called
Santa
Cruz
the
“Black
Fort”
or
”
Zwart
Fort”
(
Zwart
Bastian).
Why
this
Bastian
was
called
the
Black
Fort
is
debatable,
while
some
believe
this
was
due
the
continuous
thick
curls
of
smoke
emanating
from
cannons
and
guns
in
the
Bastian
and
others
believe
that
the
name
is
due
to
being
the
location
used
as
the
holding
cell
for
African
slaves
brought
to
the
island
by
the
Dutch.
Around
2000-2001,
a
section
of
the
Black
Fort,
and
on
top
of
it,
a
number
of
ancient
prison
cells
collapsed
and
a
section
of
the
Sailors
Bastion
was
washed
out,
due
to
high
seas.
The
Sailors
Bastion
is
the
only
one,
which
is
not
protected
by
coral
reefs.
It
was
therefore
vulnerable
for
high
waves.
The
Central
Cultural
Fund
(CCF)
undertook
conservation
works
and
in
2006
funded
by
Netherlands
and
now
has
been
completed.
The
official
residence
of
the
Senior
DIG
of
police
for
Southern
Province
and
his
office
is
located
inside
this
ancient
Black
Fort.
Ealier
you
had
to
take
special
permission
of
the
DIG’s
office
to
access
this
site.
But
now
this
site
is
open
to
the
public.
A
foot
path
has
been
built
across
the
DIG’s
office
land
with
sign
boards
towards
the
fort.
4 people found this review helpful 👍