Colonial Ceylon

Sri Lanka has been the center of islands in the Indian Ocean for travelers passing by even before thousands of years hence they became a part of our history from ancient days. Firstly Portuguese visited Ceylon when  Lourenço de Almeida  arrived in 1505, and founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and progressively extended control over the coastal areas. Many Ceylonese were converted to Christianity.  

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Secondly the Dutch attacked the island in 1669 but ended with an agreement but not until 1656 that Colombo fell. By 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. The Dutch (who were Protestants) persecuted the Catholics (the left-over Portuguese settlers)

 

Between 1796 and 1948, Ceylon was a British Crown colony. Although the British monarch was the head of state, in practice his or her functions were exercised in the colony by the colonial Governor, who acted on instructions from the British government in London.

The Colonial ruling granted many resources to Sri Lanka, Architectural growth was vast as they built many forts in all main sea ports of the island which was later expanded by the Dutch. The Galle fort, Matara Fort, Trinco and Batti Forts in the East Coast and the forts in Jaffna and Kalpitiya are remarkable. English took over the forts and further transferred during the Napoleonic War to trade mark their presence.

The most attractive buildings were constructed during the English period, especially in central locations such as Colombo , Galle , Jaffna, East Coast and  Kandy.

 

We at Infinit Luxury Travel offers the best tours to visit the land mark buildings such as The grand Oriental Hotel in Colombo, the Colonial buildings in the Colombo Fort area, Galle Face Hotel, Queens Hotel in Kandy, Colonial buildings in the Hill country and the North and East Coasts.