Self-Guided Tour: Galle Fort (UNESCO Heritage Site)

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Galle Fort, Church Street, Galle 80000 Sri Lanka

HOTSPOTS YOU'LL VISIT

1. The Rampart of Galle Fort
- The Rampart stretched over 3km in length encircling 90 acres of land with 14 bastions which was completed in 1683.

2.The Galle Clock Tower
- The Galle Clock Tower or Anthonisz Memorial Clock Tower was built 1883 in the memory of Dr. P. D. Anthonisz which is a popular land mark located within Galle Fort.

3. The Star Bastion
- The Star Bastion was completed in 1620 including other two bastions by the Portuguese and named after Sao Anthonio or St. Anthony's which was built on northern most corner of the Galle Fort.

4. The Aeolus Bastion
- Aeolus means the sea breeze who was the Greek god of winds. Hence, the bastion was believed to be named as Aeolus because the Dutch Naval Commander's official residence was located here and due to the importance of wind for ships.

5. Clippenberg Bastion
- Clippen means jutting into the sea and burg means village, which has obviously been named due to its setting, the bastion was located on a bend in the ramparts after passing Aeolus bastion to the Neptune bastion.

6. The Neptune Bastion
- The Bastion was name after Roman God of sea which was built during one of the cruelest governors in Galle Fort history.

7. Sri Sudharmalaya Buddhist Temple
- The temple believed to be built upon a ground of an old roman catholic church built by Portuguese which was later destroyed by the Dutch.

8.Triton Bastion
- The Bastion was name after Greek God of sea which was also built during 1726 to 1729.

9.Flag Rock Bastion
- Flag rock bastion has been used to signal approaching ships to the harbour and also alarm the enemy ships.

10.The Meeran Mosque
- Meeran Masjid is a well-known known mosque in the Galle fort, which also has embedded European architecture to the building.

11.Galle Lighthouse
- Galle Lighthouse which is also known as Pointe de Galle Light is an onshore Lighthouse situated inside Galle Fort, which was constructed in 1938 out of cast iron and is operated and maintained by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

12.Dutch Hospital & Ambalama
- It was a military hospital at the time of Dutch where they used the facility to research small fox virus at the time it was an epidemic in the city.

13.National Maritime Museum and Dutch Warehouse
- The Galle Fort has two maritime museums, the major museum is national maritime archeological museum and another is the Galle Maritime Museum, both located in the same old Dutch warehouse.

14.The All Saint’s Church
- The construction of an Anglican church at Galle, was initiated by the first Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. James Chapman.

15.Governor’s Bungalow
- The Galle was an administrative sub division called commandment and chief was commander whose residence, council chambers and secretariat was built right opposite to the belfry and the end of the warehouse.

16. Dutch Pay Office and Library
- The building has housed the accounts and management of the warehouse operations and payments of 156 year Dutch rule in Galle. There were two buildings and part of the pay office was later converted to the Galle public library.

17. Dutch Reformed Church
- It is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use within the country.

18. The Galle National Museum
- The museum has a collection of archaeological and anthropological objects inherited in Southern region of Sri Lanka.

19. Galle Black Fort
- The black fort is called Zwart bastion which was the oldest of 14 bastions of the fort and it is one of the strongest guard points in Portuguese and Dutch ruling.

20. The Sun Bastion
- The Sun Bastion has been recorded since 1620, which was very strongly built by the Portuguese, where they have completed 3 main bastions on the land side for protection by the year and it was named by them as Sao Iago or St.

Duration: 3 hours