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 Old Fort town

Galle Fort was built first by the Portugese, and then modified by the Dutch during the 17th Century. A lot of reconstruction has been done by the Archaeological department of Sri Lanka. The government and Dutch people still own some of the properties within the fort. From the top of the ramparts we had views of Galle and the famous Galle cricket ground, and we enjoyed the coastline as we walked around the old ramparts. We visited the Dutch church, the National Maritime museum, the Clock Tower and a privately owned museum which is housed in an old Dutch house depicting life in the Dutch colony. We returned to the ship for lunch then a free afternoon when we visited the town centre, walked around the fishing area and then walked to the fort before taking the shuttle bus back to the ship. In 2004, the town was hit by a major tsumani in which over 700 people lost their lives. The cricket pitch next to the old fort is used by many junior cricket teams. There was a match taking place on that fateful day, but fortunately, non of the cricket players were killed.