5/5 Sameera A. 4 years ago on Google
The
Portuguese
fort
that
stood
where
the
current
Negombo
Fort
is
situated
was
mostly
destroyed
by
cannon
during
the
Dutch
siege
in
1644.
The
Dutch
fort
was
built
on
its
ruins,
not
on
the
usual
square
pattern,
but
on
a
pentagonal
one,
though
it
had
only
four
bulwarks.
The
fifth
one
was
never
built.
Negombo
is
home
to
the
largest
community
of
Catholics
in
Sri
Lanka,
a
legacy
of
the
Portuguese,
who
industriously
spread
Catholicism
all
along
the
west
coast.
Portuguese
surnames
abound
here,
though
the
people
do
not
descend
from
the
Portuguese.
Their
ancestors
adopted
a
Portuguese
name
when
they
had
been
baptised.
In
the
Dutch
time
Negombo
was
important
because
the
highest
quality
cinnamon
grew
in
this
area,
but
with
the
disappearance
of
the
cinnamon
trade
it
lost
its
importance.
Negombo
itself
is
an
ugly
town.
Beauty
is
to
be
found
on
the
beaches
and
around
the
lagoons,
where
colourful
fishing
boats
lie
on
blue
water
against
a
backdrop
of
palm
trees.
The
fort
was
located
on
a
narrow
strip
of
land
between
a
lagoon
and
an
inlet
of
the
sea.
It
was
surrounded
by
moats,
and
the
gate
was
accessed
via
a
drawbridge.
Facing
it
on
the
landside
was
a
town
with
the
familiar
rectangular
pattern
of
streets
which
was
itself
protected
by
earth
walls.
The
area
to
the
west
was
regularly
flooded
by
the
sea,
changing
the
land
on
which
the
fort
stood
into
a
peninsula.
Governor
Rumpf
described
the
fort
as
a
‘fine
defensible
structure’
when
he
visited
it
in
1720,
but
the
painter
Heydt,
who
painted
it
in
1744,
was
less
enthusiastic
and
felt
that
it
could
have
been
built
‘somewhat
more
durably’.
Governor
Rumpf
visited
the
Negombo
Fort
to
view
the
improvements
that
had
been
recently
made
to
it.
The
walls
had
been
topped
up,
new
watch
towers
had
been
built
on
the
bastions,
a
big
bell
tower
had
been
built
above
the
gate,
and
a
wooden
palisade
had
been
put
up.
The
Fort
in
its
new
splendour
is
shown
in
this
water
colour
from
1720.
Today
only
ruins
are
left.
The
Fort
was
demolished
in
the
late
nineteenth
century
by
the
British,
who
used
its
stones
to
build
a
prison.
The
main
remnant
is
an
ambivalent
mound
and
part
of
the
eastern
wall
with
the
main
gate
that
gives
entrance
to
a
tunnel
that
opens
into
what
was
once
the
courtyard.
A
clock
tower
behind
it
has
been
added
at
Queen
Victoria’s
Jubilee.
Nearby
on
the
beach
is
the
fishing
market
of
Negombo.
The
fish
is
brought
ashore
here
and
sold
immediately
while
the
sun
beats
down.
Low
coloured
boats
and
fishing
nets
lie
on
the
beach.
Dirty
crows
and
seagulls
are
everywhere.
The
old
women
who
sell
the
fish
are
very
poor
and
have
very
black
skins.
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