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Colombo

Colombo

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Colombo

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oDutch Period Museum MUSEUM

(Map p60; %244 8466; 95 Prince St, Col 11; adult/

child Rs 500/300; h9am-5pm Tue-Sat) This

unique museum was originally the 17th-

century residence of the Dutch governor and

has since been used as a Catholic seminary, a

military hospital, a police station and a post

office. The mansion contains a lovely garden

courtyard and has a nice faded feel since

a 1977 restoration. Exhibits include Dutch

colonial furniture and other artefacts.

It’s here in 1638 that King Rajasinghe II of

the Kingdom of Kandy signed the treaty that

opened up Ceylon to the Dutch.

oOld City Hall HiSTORiC BUilDiNg

(Map p60; Main St , Col 11; h8am-5pm Mon-Sat)

Dating to 1865, this municipal building from

the British era is mostly empty today, save

for some old trucks and municipal equip-

ment on display in the ground-floor galler-

ies. But let the attendants lead you up the

vintage mahogany stairs (tip them Rs 100)

and you’ll discover something of a wax-

works in the old council chambers. There,

covered in dust, are replicas of the town’s

first councillors in 1906.

It’s slightly comic and ghoulish, especially

given the green glow from the stained glass.

Views from the windows put you above the

hubbub outside.

Pettah Hindu Temples TEMPlES

Known as kovils, Hindu temples are nu-

merous in Colombo, with a particularly

high concentration in Pettah. On Sea St, the

goldsmiths’ street, Old Kathiresan Kovil

(Map p60; Sea St, Col 11; h6am-6pm) and New

Kathiresan Kovil (Map p60; Sea St, Col 11;

h6am-6pm) are both dedicated to the war

god Murugan (Skanda), and are the starting

point for the annual Hindu Vel festival held

in July/August, when the huge vel (trident)

chariot is dragged to various kovils on Galle

Rd in Bambalapitiya.

Pettah Mosques MOSQUES

In the heart of Pettah, the decorative 1909

Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque (Map p60; cnr 2nd Cross

& Bankshall Sts , Col 11) is a show-stopper with

its candy-striped red-and-white brickwork.

Guards will usually let you in for a look, ex-

cept during peak prayer times on Friday.

Afterwards have a coffee at one of the Halal

cafes across the way. The modern Grand

Mosque (Map p60; New Moor St, Col 11) is the

most important of Colombo’s many mosques.

Wolvendaal Church CHURCH

(Map p60; Wolvendaal lane, Col 11; h9am-4pm)

The 1749 Wolvendaal Church is the most

important Dutch building in Sri Lanka.

When the church was built, this area was a

wilderness beyond the city walls. The Euro-

peans mistook the packs of roaming jackals

for wolves, and the area became known as

Wolf ’s Dale, or Wolvendaal in Dutch. The

church is in the form of a Greek cross, with

walls 1.5m thick, but the real treasure is its

Dutch furniture.

The Dutch governors had a special pew

made with elegant carved ebony chairs, and

the workmanship in the wooden pulpit, bap-

tismal font and lectern is just as beautiful.

The stone floor includes the elaborate tomb-

stones to long-forgotten Dutch governors

and colonists.

1 Galle Face Green

Colombo’s front porch is immediately south

of Fort. Galle Face Green (Map p64) is a

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See Kollupitiya, Cinnamon

Gardens & Borella Map (p64)

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e#^0400 .2 miles^00 m

Sri Muthumariamman

Kovil (900m)

St Lucia's

Cathedral

(500m)

D D

Entrance to

Colombo–Katunayake

Expressway

(3km)

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