Fort (Colombo)

Fort

කොටුව
கோட்டை
Fort කොටුව; கோட்டை
Postal Code	00100

Fort (Colombo) (Sinhala: කොටුව; Tamil: கோட்டை) is the central business district of

General Post Office

, hotels, government departments and offices.

History

Known as Kolonthota, the area became notable as the site of the first landings of the Portuguese in the early 16th century and became one of their trading posts in the island. The Portuguese developed their trading post into a fortified base and harbour to extend their control of the interior of the island.

A detailed account of the first Portuguese settlement and fort can be found in the 1681 journal of Captain João Ribeyro;^[2]

"Colombo was at first only a factory palisaded round about; it was soon made more extensive, a small fort was built and at length it became a very pretty agreeable little town, with twelve bastions and an esplanade. For a long time the walls were only of taipa singella with a ditch which joined a lake and that lake shut in one third of the town on the land side; there were always 237 guns mounted, of from 10 to 36 lbs caliber. The town fronted a bay capable of containing a great number of small ships but they were always exposed to the north-wind; it was 1300 paces in circumference. Where the reef ran out, there was a small battery with a heavy piece of artillery which commanded the whole of the bay. The southern part of the town lay entirely open, being well defended on that side by the same reef."

Of the population, it is mentioned that 900 noble families and about 1500 of lesser citizens resided at the time in Colombo. The town's religious missions are said to have been numerous; from several of Our Lady's, St. Lawrence's, Cordeliers, Dominican, Augustine, Capuchin, House of Mercy to a hospital.^[3]

The fort was besieged several times during the

in 1587, but was held. It was conquered by the Dutch East India Company in 1656 after they intervened in the war. With Colombo gaining prominence as the center for Dutch administration in the island, it was expanded to protect against both the sea and the interior of the island. The Dutch demolished the Portuguese-built fortification and reconstructed it to take advantage of the natural strength of the location between a lake and the sea. The present layout of Fort and the Pettah was the result of the Dutch remodeling of Colombo. The Pettah was known in Dutch times as the 'Oude Stad' (Old Town), and consisted of the residential area of Colombo. The Fort was where they built their fortifications, it was known as 'the Casteel' in Dutch.^[4]

Following the British acquiring control of the Dutch-controlled areas on the coast of the island, the fort became the center of its administration. In 1815 with Kandyan Convention, Colombo became the capital of the entire island.^[5] The walls of the fort to the north, east and south were demolished between 1869 and 1871 as the fort was obsolete and to make room for new military barracks (the Echelon Barracks).^[4] The ramparts or walls of the fort were also considered an obstruction to planned urban development in the area.^[6] Dutch buildings were also demolished and were replaced by British-style architecture.^[7]

Although the ramparts were taken down, the area remained to be called the Fort. Many buildings in the fort area were home to the British administration on the island and as more legislative responsibilities were transferred to the Ceylonese, it became the site of the

Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte

. This began with the shifting of Parliament from the old State Council Building to a new complex in Sri Jayawardenapura. The full shift of government was never completed, as many important government institutions still remain there.

Remains

There are a number of locations which contain the remains of the fort and its ramparts. These include the Delft Gate, located within the Commercial House along Bristol Street.^[8] The Delft Gate was one of the three main entrances into the fort, the others being the Galle Gate in the south and the Water Gate to the harbour. The Delft Gate was located on the eastern ramparts between the bastions of Delft and Hoorn. The remains of the wall that enclosed the Battenburg Battery can be found inside the harbour area. The Battenburg Battery was one of the two gun batteries built by the Dutch to cover the approach from the sea. A warehouse, known as a Pakhuis, which linked the fort and the outer defenses and was fortified with thick masonry in order to withstand bombardment from the sea also still remains. It currently houses the Colombo Maritime Museum. There is also a section of the wall from Enkhuysen Bastion to Dan Briel Bastion that still exists. A section of the rampart wall, the bastion Dan Briel, a modest bastion located between the Enkhuysen and the Battenburg Batteries, as well as a postern gate, known as the Slave Port, still exist within the grounds of SLNS Parakrama.^[9]