Old artillery and food storage turned into small museum
- Church street
- Tues-Sat 9am-4pm, closed Sundays and Mondays
- +94 91 2232051
The immaculately preserved Dutch Fort in Galle is one of Sri Lankans most iconic images and is said to be best preserved fortified city in Asia
Fort’s store room
This is one of oldest Dutch period building in Galle Fort and has lived many lives. It was originally a storage facility of the Dutch artillery regiment, made of coral limestone, sand and clay with huge doors and windows. In British period it became Fort’s main food store and they needed a place to easily unload the goods, so a columned veranda was added. Later, the building even served as the billiard’s room for the New Oriental Hotel (NOH) next door.
New lease of life
Today it is the Galle National Museum. Completely renovated in 1986 with an extended veranda it is worth a visit. The collection depicts the history of Galle and gives an intimate insight into daily life in Fort in the old days, from cooking utensils to coins and lace. We like the big model of Fort on the veranda and also the newly added room on the lesser-known history of Chinese voyager Zheng He to the Sri Lankan shores.