Fort Hammenhiel Fort Hammenhiel (Sinhala: හැමන්හිල් බලකොටුව; Tamil: அம்மன்னீல் கோட்டை) is an old Dutch fort situated on a small island between Kayts and Karaitive islands in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. History
During the Portuguese period, Hammenhiel which had been named by the Portuguese as Fortaleza do Caes (Wijebandara, 2014), was used to guard the passage by water to the castle Fort at Jaffna . The Dutch under the captains Cornelies Reb, Piester Waset, and N. van de Reede captured Fortaleza do Caes in 1658, soon after the occupation of Mannar. The Dutch renamed it Hammenhiel (heel of the Ham) as they considered that shape of Ceylon resembled a smoked ham and the fort was located at the point where the shank bone projects (Wijebandara, 2014). A thank offering sermon for the god on the victory of the Dutch is said to have been conducted here on 28 August 1658 (Wijebandara, 2014).
After occupying this Portuguese establishment, the Dutch carried out many repairs to it as they found some weaknesses in …
