Galle

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For the Astronomer, see Johann Gottfried Galle.

For the French artist, see Émile Gallé.

Galle (ගාල්ල in Sinhala; காலி in Tamil) (pronounced as one syllable, rhyming with "Gaul" in English or "Ga Le" pronounced as two syllables in Sinhala) is a town situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 116km from Colombo. Galle was known as Gimhathiththa (although Ibn Batuta in the 14th century refers to it as Qali) before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island. Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, before the arrival of the British, who developed the harbor at Colombo.

Galle lies in Galle District.

On 26 December, 2004 the city was devastated by the massive Boxing Day Tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that occurred a thousand miles away, off the coast of Indonesia. Thousands were killed in the city alone.

Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in south and southeast Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and south Asian traditions. The Galle Fort is a world heritage site and the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European invaders. Other prominent landmarks in Galle include the St. Mary's Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests.

Galle is the main town in the most southerly part of the island, with a population of around 100,000, and is connected by rail to Colombo and Matara. It is home to a cricket ground, the Galle International Stadium, where test matches are played.

Rumassala Kanda is a large mound-like hill, which forms the eastern protective barrier to the Galle harbour. Local tradition associates this hill with some events of the Ramayana.

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1 History
2 Universities
3 Schools
4 See also
5 External links

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History

According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of 'Tarshish', from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Certainly, cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and the root of the word itself is Hebrew, so Galle may have been the main entrepot for the spice.

Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays and Indians were doing business through Galle port. The 'modern' history of Galle starts in 1505, when the first Portuguese ship, under Lourenço de Almeida was driven there by a storm. However, the people of the city refused to let the Portuguese enter it, so the Portuguese took it by force.

In 1640, the Portuguese had to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present Fort in the year 1663. They built a fortified wall, using solid granite, and built three bastions, known as 'sun', 'moon' and 'star'.

After the British took over the country from the Dutch in the year 1796, they preserved the Fort unchanged, and used it as the administrative centre of Galle.

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