Old Welekade Market (Badulla)
The Old Welekade Market (Sinhala: බදුල්ල පැරණි වෙලේකඩේ වෙළඳ ගොඩනැගිල්ල), incorrectly known as Badulla Dutch Fort , is a historic building situated in the middle of Badulla town, Sri Lanka. This building is popularly known among the locals as Welekade ( Wele - paddy field, Kade -shop) as it had been built on the escarpment near a paddy field (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017). History
The British constructed this building in 1889 in Badulla after they signed the Kandyan Convention with the Sri Lankan Chieftains in 1818, to be used as a market/trade centre (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017).
The construction of markets became a usual urban tradition in Sri Lanka since the beginning of the colonial period. During the British occupation, markets were built in several main towns in the country such as Colombo, Galle, and Jaffna. The Welekade market at Badulla (built-in 1889) and the vegetable market at Galle (built-in 1890) provide evidence that the British had started to build markets…
