Batticaloa Fort stands on Puliyanthivu island, close to the lagoon and the old town. The Portuguese built the first fort here in the 1620s; the Dutch captured it in 1638, and the British later used it after taking control of Ceylon.
Today the fort contains government offices, so it is not a museum-like ruin. Even so, the walls, water views, and layered colonial history make it Batticaloa's most important landmark.