The Old Dutch Hospital is among the oldest buildings inside the fort, built by the VOC in the seventeenth century to treat its sick officers and soldiers. After a long period as government offices it was restored in the 2010s and reopened as a small shopping and dining arcade — two long parallel galleries with open colonnades looking out to sea.
The building is more atmospheric than the shops it now contains, which lean towards expensive boutiques, but several decent restaurants share the seaward terrace and the breeze. Coffee on the colonnade at sunset is one of the easier pleasures of Galle Fort.