Old Colombo

Old COLOMBO

The Lighthouse clock Tower

 Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, brings together the old and the new. Colonial ruins and buildings contrast with high- rise hotels and commercial barks Almost everyone who visits Sri Lanka spends time in this busy city. Colombo, an eighth- century port, houses administrative e, financial and other offices of relevance to the traveler. A part of Colombo re-lives its past by preserving some of the finest structures of its colonial heritage. The city has developed, through several phases, into a modem city. The populace of Colombo is representative of Sri Lanka s ethnic and religious mixture.

Fort where the Portuguese and the Dutch had their well-protected bastions during the 16th and 17th centuries, has government offices, departmental .stores and shopping complexes.

The Laksala, a state-owned handicraft centre near the Millers and Cargills departmental stores on York

Street, offers Sri Lankan handicrafts at fixed prices.

The pink colonial facade now houses's, Colombo's World trade center 

The Immigration and Emigration department, the Tourist Information Bureau, the General Post Office and the Airline offices are centrally located in the Fort. The Pettah, i.e. the area outside the Fort, is the busiest and noisiest part of the city, teeming with wholesale and retail outlets and wayside eateries, as well as the main railway station and public trans­port stands. The bustling street market known as the World Market, on Duke Street, offers clothing and leather wear at bargain prices.

Colombo's hotels are centrally located, offering the visitor both pleasure and convenience. The Galle Face Hotel and the Hotel Taj Samudra open out to the ocean and to the breezy Galle Face green where horse racing was once common. The green is popu­lar with morning joggers and evening strollers, as well as with kite-flying enthusiasts and courting couples. The old Parliament Building, a landmark on Galle Face, now accommodates the Presidential Secretariat. The President's residence is in the renovated and refurbished Governor's House, which was originally a Dutch brewery. The Colombo Renaissance Hotel is on the banks of the Beira lake, where crocodiles laze and boating is popular, while the Hotel Taprobane offers the best view of harbor. Other conveniently-located star-class hotel are the Marriot. the Lanka Oberoi and the Intercontinental.        

The roads to and from the heart of Colombo are many. On Mondays and Fridays, particularly dur­ing the rush hours when a million commuters arrive in and leave Colombo, city traffic moves slowly. Taxis and three-wheelers are the fastest con­veyances, while public and private buses offer fairly good service.

The National Museum, established by the British Governor Sir William Gregory, the father of the cul­tural revival during the British period, was built by a descendant of a Moor, Arasy Marikar Wapuche Marikar, famous for his buildings in Grenada and Cordova. Gregory's statue adorns the lawn. For the traveler who has no time to visit historic cities, the National Museum is the best place to go to comprehend the island's past. The Archaeological Department and the Sinhala Dictionary Office are in front, and the Natural History Museum is located behind the National Museum. The buildings hous­ing the Public Library, the National Archives and the Royal Asiatic Society, all repositories of history, are nearby.

The John de Silva Memorial Theatre, the National Art Gallery and Lionel Wendt Art Centre and Theatre, are in the vicinity.

The Department of National Museums and the Archaeological Department manage several muse­ums in historic cities, including Ampara, Anuradhapura, Dedigama, Jaffna, Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Trincomalee.

The national museum, established in 1877, Is home to a unique collection depicting
Sri Lanka's culture and history from prehistoric times to the present