The Galle Fort walk
Galle Fort being a UNESCO world heritage site has always been mysterious, and on our walk with Juliet Coombe, we found the whole area even more fascinating as she enlightened us about riddles never known.
Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in the 16th century by the Portuguese, and then broadly equipped by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 – 1650 onwards. It is a historical, archaeological, and architectural heritage monument, which even after more than 423 years remains almost the same, thanks to the reconstruction from the archeological department of Sri Lanka as well as the UNESCO.
The fort has a colorful history, and today has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. The Sri Lankan government and many of the Dutch community still own some of the properties inside the fort.
Juliet’s introduction began with the fort walls themselves. She showed us that the walls were built of Coral, Clay and limestone; not only the walls of the Fort but also, some of the ancient buildings (mostly residences) in the vicinity due to the extensive heat during the day, since Coral and Limestone would absorb the heat naturally.
The fort consists of many monuments such as the Dutch Reformed church, the Old Dutch government house, the residence of the commander, The Galle lighthouse, and the clock tower dated 1707 are some which bear great importance.
One significant monument was the Mosque at the end of the church road; which has been a Dutch church formerly. However, since it was abandoned, it has been converted into a Mosque since the early 20th century.
Most streets in the area are a legacy from the colonial period; the lanes connect streets from one to the other, each not very lengthy and houses are built from one end to the other end of the lane, the rear of the house, is facing one street and the front faces another. However, built quite high – most ancient houses do have balconies, which have views from afar.
The latest ambiguity resolved is the dungeons, which were within the Galle Fortress limits; these were hidden since recent and has been used for imprisonment of slaves, which were brought from Africa for labor of the Dutch.
These dungeons are yet to be exposed to public and are yet under the supervision of UNESCO and the archeological department of Sri Lanka. Not only that, we were told that some of the cannons too were up-to-date active and that there were ammunition stores under ground.
The Walk with Juliet consisted of many areas of knowledge, the unknown historical anecdotes, the environmental value of the fort, the architecture; enchanting stories about witchcraft, unsolved crimes of passion, and the essence of the livelihood fascinated us all; and will sure to fascinate the inquisitive traveler too.
