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| Established | 1982 |
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| Location | 95 Prince Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Type | History |
| Website | Department of National Museums website |
The Colombo Dutch Museum is a museum that covers the history of the Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka.
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| Established | 1982 |
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| Location | 95 Prince Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Type | History |
| Website | Department of National Museums website |
The Colombo Dutch Museum is a museum that covers the history of the Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka.
The two storey colonnaded building on Prince Street, Pettah (Colombo 11) which houses this museum was constructed during the Dutch occupation of Colombo (1656 - 1796) and was the formal residence of the Governor of Dutch Ceylon Thomas van Rhee (1634 - 1701) during his term of office in 1692 to 1697. [1] The building has been used for many different purposes over the years. It was a teacher training college and an institute for the instruction of clergymen between 1696 and 1796. At one time it was the residence of Colonel Count August Carl Fredrick Von Ranzow (1759 - 1844). [2] It operated as an orphanage under the supervision of the deacons and financed by the Dutch East Indies Company. It was also used as a hospital. It became a barracks in the second half of the 1800s and in 1900 it was used as a police training school, set up by the British. [2] In 1932 it was converted to the Pettah Post Office. In 1971 following heavy monsoon rains one of the exterior walls collapsed and the building was abandoned. Following protests by the Royal Asiatic Society and the Dutch Burgher Union against plans to demolish the building, in 1973 a committee was established with representatives from the Ceylon Tourist Board, the Department of Archaeology, the Netherlands Alumni Association of Lanka and the National Archives, to restore the building and establish a museum covering the Dutch colonial period.
The restoration of the building commenced in 1977, with financial assistance of Netherlands government, and was completed in 1981. This museum was opened to the public in 1982. This building embodies the unique architectural features of a colonial Dutch town house. In 1999 the museum building was formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological protected monument in Sri Lanka. The designation was declared on 18 June under the government Gazette number 1085. [3]
The museum while displaying the Dutch legacy with the artefacts including furniture, ceramics, coins and weaponry, portraying the various facets of contemporary life and culture. [2]
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban/suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments.
The National Maritime Museum or National Maritime Archaeology Museum in Galle, Sri Lanka is situated within Galle Fort. It was first opened to the public on 9 May 1992 and is located in a 1671 Dutch Warehouse above the Old Gate of Galle Fort. Whilst the building housing the museum survived the impact of the 26 December 2004 tsunami, the adjoining UNESCO Maritime Archaeology Unit was completely destroyed and all the exhibitions were flood damaged and the majority of maritime archeological artifacts were lost. Under Sri Lanka – Netherlands Cultural Co-operation Program, the Royal Government of Netherlands provided financial assistance for reconstruction of the Maritime Museum. After 3 years period of reconstruction, the Maritime Museum was re-opened to the public.
National Museum of Colombo, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum is one of two museums in Colombo. It is the largest museum in Sri Lanka. It is maintained by the Department of National Museum of the central government. The museum holds contains a collections of much importance to Sri Lanka such as the regalia of the country, including the throne and crown of the Kandyan monarchs as well as many other exhibits telling the story of ancient Sri Lanka.
The Department of Posts, functioning under the brand name Sri Lanka Post, is a government operated postal system in Sri Lanka. The postal headquarters is the General Post Office which is located in Colombo. The department itself comes under the purview of the Ministry of Information and Mass Media. It was formerly known as the Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Department and is one of the oldest Government departments in existence today.
President's House is the official residence and workplace of the president of Sri Lanka, located at Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since 1804 it has been the residence of British governors and governors-general and Sri Lankan presidents, having been known as the "King's House" or the "Queen's House" until Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972.
The former Colombo General Post Office, at 17 Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo Fort, was the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Post and the office of the Postmaster General for over one hundred years, from 1895 until 2000.
Fort (Colombo) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE operates. It is also the location of the Bank of Ceylon headquarters. Along the foreshore of the Fort area is the Galle Face Green Promenade, built in 1859 under the governance of Sir Henry George Ward, the Governor of Ceylon during British colonial era. Fort is also home to the General Post Office, hotels, government departments and offices.
The Department of National Archives is a government department in Sri Lanka which is the repository of the non-current records of the Government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters of the National Archives is situated along Reid Avenue in close proximity to Independence square, Colombo and has a branch office in Kandy.
A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri.
Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese, then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. It is a historical, archaeological and architectural heritage monument, which even after more than 432 years maintains a polished appearance, due to extensive reconstruction work done by Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka.
Sunday Observer is a weekly English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, published on Sundays. The Sunday Observer and its sister newspapers the Daily News, Dinamina, Silumina and Thinakaran are published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, a government-owned corporation. The paper, which was established in the present-day format in 1928, has roots that date back to 1834 when Sri Lanka was under the British rule. It is the oldest Sri Lankan newspaper in circulation apart from the Government Gazette. The current Editor is Dharisha Bastians.
Wolvendaal Church is located in Pettah, a neighbourhood of Colombo. It is one of the most important Dutch Colonial era buildings in Sri Lanka, and is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in the country.
Kalutara fort was built by the Portuguese in 1622. It was located in Kalutara, Sri Lanka.
John Leonard Kalenberg van Dort was a 19th-century Ceylonese artist of Dutch Burgher descent.
The Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, known commonly as the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU), is an organisation of Dutch Burghers in Sri Lanka. It was established on 18 January 1908 by Richard Gerald Anthonisz.
Economic History Museum of Sri Lanka is located in the Central Point building, 54 Chatham Street, Colombo Fort.
The Maritime and Naval History Museum is a Maritime museum located at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. It has been established near to Fort Fredrick where the Dutch first landed to the island in the 16th century.
St. Peter's Church is one of the oldest continuously functioning churches in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is located on Church Street in Colombo Fort, on the northern side of the Grand Oriental Hotel.
Methodist Church in Pettah is a Methodist church situated in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is considered as the first Methodist church, established in Sri Lanka as well as Asia. The church building has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological protected monument in Sri Lanka. The designation was declared on 17 May 2013 under the government Gazette number 1811.
The Galle Fort Post Office is the post office in Galle Fort, Sri Lanka.
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