Galle is a jewel. A Unesco World Heritage Site, this historic city is a delight to explore on foot, an endlessly exotic old trading port blessed with imposing Dutch-colonial buildings, ancient mosques and churches, grand mansions and museums.
Built by the Dutch, beginning in 1663, Galle’s core is the Fort, a walled enclave surrounded on three sides by the ocean. The Galle Fort, also known as the Dutch Fort or the “Ramparts of Galle”, is a historical, archaeological and architectural heritage monument, which even after more than 423 years maintains a polished appearance, due to extensive reconstruction work done by Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. Galle lighthouse, Galle clock tower, Groote Kerk – Galle, All Saints’ Church – Galle, National Museum in Galle, Old Dutch Hospital, National Maritime Museum Galle are main archaeological and architectural heritage monuments in Galle fort.
The fort has a colorful history, and today has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. he 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. As it exists today, it covers an area of 52 hectares (130 acres).
