Finding Old Forts in Sri Lanka

Holiday Resorts in Sri Lanka about with style and elegance and will afford you a holiday vacation of a lifetime with so much to do. And one of the neatest things to do in Sri Lanka is also one that gets overlooked a lot because folks are looking to spend time in the fun, sun and water that surround the country and so the beaches become very popular.  However, if you are looking for some quiet relaxation time where you can wander around and enjoy a peaceful day out and learn a little history while relaxing, you might consider touring and exploring the forts in Sri Lanka.  There is likely one near whichever Holiday Resort in Sri Lanka that you have chosen as the base camp for your vacation.

The first colonial fort built in Sri Lanka is in Colombo and began life as a Portuguese trading post.  It was first called Santa Barbara when constructed in the year 1518.  It was similarly abandoned in 1524 and then in 1554 a new fort was built and the city of Colombo was built around the fort.  The fort has since been demolished and the city of Colombo and several holiday resorts in Sri Lanka take its place as the center of the city is where the old fort once stood.

Galle Fort was first raised in the 17th century by the Portuguese and then taken over by the Dutch who still own the majority of the fort property and it still looks as good as the day it was built.  The current Dutch population here is looking to make this a free trade area where no taxes will be levied which will be great for business and tourism alike.

Fort Frederick in Trincomalee has a long and colorful history as a fort and even today is commissioned with a garrison of soldiers yet is still available for tourists to visit and see.  If you take the time to look there remains information and partial remains of other forts throughout the country of Sri Lanka, though the course of history there were no less than at least seventeen forts in this country.  Some of them remain in entirety and some only have vague portions still available to show the world that a mighty structure once lived there. The Star fort is a good example.

Many of these forts were actually destroyed in battle and wars, which makes them all the more interesting to history buffs and people who enjoy such things as canon battles off the island and high sea.  A prime example of ruins is the Matara fort in which the remains are still quite visible. Of the forts or portions of forts that survived the test of time many have been reclassified and are in use today serving as everything from a prison, as is Negombo fort.  Fort MacDowall was turned primarily into a cemetery.  Ruwanwella fort is used today as a police station.