News
Galle Heritage site: Things fall apart
View(s):Barely two months ago, the Sunday Timeswarned, that Galle’s Dutch fort heritage site was crumbling. As predicted, parts of the site have come crashing down.
Story and pix by Gamini Mahadura
The Fort is recognized as one of seven ‘living fortresses’ in the world. It was rated 38th among heritage sites by UNESCO in 1988.
Seventeen buildings belonging to the Dutch period are on the point of collapse. They include the original office the VOC operated in Galle during the 18th century, which has lost its roof.
On December 7, the rain-soaked walls collapsed and the road to the the fort has been closed to traffic.
The Galle Post Office located within the Fort is one of the five oldest Post Officers in the island but, it is now in ruins
The buildings housing the Police Barracks, All Saints’ Vidyalaya, Tea Small Holder’s Authority are in a dilapidated condition, with wild plants growing out of them.
Householders within the fort often renovate their homes without reference to the Heritage Authority and UNESCO has expressed concern regarding these developments and threatened to delist the Fort from its World Heritage list.
The Galle Heritage Foundation has stressed the need to comply with regulations pertaining to Heritage sites.
The high market value of land within the site has resulted in local residents selling their land to foreign buyers. Today a mere 278 local families own land within the fort!
The roof of old Post office has collapsed
The road adjacent to the Post Office has been closed to the public
All that remains of the of sections of buildings within the Heritage Site
The trees growing out of these buildings speaks volumes of the neglect
The unkept trees pose a danger not only to the buildings but to those who work therein
Despite the delapidated state of buildings at the Heritage Site of the Galle Old Dutch Fort it still remains a major tourist attraction
How the Sunday Times highlighted the imminent collapse