Galle

Galle is a harbour on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, where a rocky peninsula shelters the anchorage. Merchants from the Indian Ocean called here long before European fortifications rose above the sea. The Portuguese made the port a fortified base, and the town later became one of the principal centres of Dutch trade on the island.

In 1640 a Dutch force captured Galle after a siege, acting in the wider struggle against Portuguese power in alliance with Kandy. The Dutch East India Company rebuilt and enlarged the defences, laying out streets within a strong circuit of walls and bastions. Much of the rampart dates from 1663, and a fortified gate protected the landward approach. Houses, churches and warehouses grew within the enclosure, adapting European forms to the climate and materials of Sri Lanka. Galle’s harbour served ships travelling across the Indian Ocean and carried the island’s goods into overseas trade. In 1796 the Dutch surrendered the fort to the British. The fortified town preserves the shape of a port formed by centuries of maritime commerce and successive rulers.