Galle Fort is the reason most travellers come to Galle. The Portuguese first built a small fortification here in 1588; the Dutch took the town in 1640 and built the present rampart system from 1649 onwards, enclosing 36 hectares of streets, churches, mosques, warehouses and villas. The British added some buildings in the nineteenth century, including the present lighthouse, but otherwise left the Dutch fabric alone.
The fort is best experienced by walking the ramparts in the late afternoon, when the heat eases and locals come out to watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean. The whole circuit is roughly 3 km and takes 90 minutes at a stroll. Inside the walls, narrow streets are filled with art galleries, gem shops, cafes and boutique hotels — increasingly polished, but the old Dutch warehouses, the Groote Kerk and the lighthouse keep the historical bones visible.