Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct (Colombo)
The Old Colombo Dutch Hospital (Sinhala: පැරණි ලන්දේසි රෝහල) is a well-preserved 17th-century Dutch structure situated in Colombo Fort, Sri Lanka. Presently it is used as a shopping complex named " The Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct " (Manathunga, 2016; Rajapakshe et al., 2018). History
Some maritime provinces of Sri Lanka were occupied by the Dutch from 1658 to 1796 until they were succeeded by the British who conquered Sri Lanka in 1815 (Uragoda & Paranavitana, 1985). The exact date when the hospital was built is not known (Silva, 1988). A
note written in 1677 by Christopher Schweitzer, a German soldier
employed by the VOC (Dutch East India Company), records that there were more soldiers in the
Colombo hospital than in the garrison (Silva, 1988). Therefore, it is
assumed that this hospital was already in existence in 1677 (Silva,
1988). A Dutch map drawn in 1732 shows the hospital at the present site
(Uragoda & Paranavitana, 1985). The hospital is mentione…
