.All Trips / Asia / Sri Lanka

Rambling through Colombo’s Fort Neighborhood

00 Old Fort District, Colonial era buildings (8)

Columbo’s Fort District is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.  Developed extensively during the British Colonial era, a visit to many areas in the Fort seems like stepping back a century or more.  Many of its hotels, shops and offices date to this period.  To this day it remains the city’s center of business and is home to the Bank of Ceylon headquarters and Ceylon Stock Exchange.

The Fort District was built around Colombo’s fine harbor and it is here you will find the Maritime Museum, lighthouse, and Naval barracks.  The area is also site of the country’s Presidential residency and some branches of the country’s government offices.  The area is not exclusively a slice of old England.  For example, the Old Dutch …

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“Pic of the Week”, March 22, 2019: Sambodhi Chaithya, Colombo

00 Stupa

Stupas, or dagobas, are very commonly found throughout southeastern Asia.  I’d never seen one with legs before my visit to Sambodhi Chaithya, located on Marine Drive adjacent to the Harbor in Colombo’s Fort district.

Sambodhi Chaithya was built in 1956 on a platform supported by two massive interlocking concrete arches.  No one is sure why it was designed in this manner, but likely so that it can be seen at a distance by ships as they approach the harbor.  The stupa can be entered by climbing 11 sets of stairs (barefoot — no shoes allowed in a stupa — beware of burning your feet on a hot day!), and then crossing a steel bridge as you can see from the photo …

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