Ratnapura Fort (Sinhala: රත්නපුර ලන්දේසි බලකොටුව; Tamil: இரத்தினபுரி இடச்சுக் கோட்டை) is a Dutch fort situated on a small hillock in the middle of Ratnapura town, Sri Lanka.
History
The Portuguese were the first who invade Ratnapura in the 17 century and built a fort there. Although they destroyed Saman Vehera and Devalaya in 1618, King Rajasinghe II (1629-1687 A.D.) captured the site in 1665 and reconstructed the shrine again. Later, the Dutch took control of all the areas previously controlled by the Portuguese and they initially used the site of the Portuguese fort at Ratnapura but subsequently built a new fort on a hill in the middle of the town. This fort was later occupied by the British who took control of the whole island in 1815.
A protected site
The ancient Dutch fort and its buildings (National Gem and Jewelry Authority building, SP office, DIG office) situated in Ratnapura town in the Divisional Secretariat Division of Ratnapura are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government Gazette notification published on 8 July 2005.
References
1) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1401. 8 July 2005.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 25 November 2022
