Negombo Dutch Fort

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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. Close to the seafront near the lagoon mouth are the ruins of an old Dutch fort, which has a fine gateway inscribed with the date 1678. Also here is a green, called the” Esplanade”, where cricket matches are a big attraction. As the fort grounds are now occupied by the town prison, the only way you will get a peek inside is by committing a serious crime. You would need to be very interested in old Dutch architecture to go to such lengths.

The Negombo fort is from the 17th century, back when the Dutch and Portugese tussled over Sri Lankan cinnamon trade. What is left of the original thing is the arch entryway and the bell tower beside it on a plain of green - the rest of the space is now a prison.

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 Dutch Fort

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