Beacon

The lighthouse on Point Utrecht warms up as darkness falls, marking the dangerous rocks of Point de Galle, and the entrance to Galle Bay. Built by the British in 1939, the lighthouse was a replacement for the original wooden one — Sri Lanka’s first lighthouse, erected in 1848 — that had been destroyed in a fire in the mid-1930s. Point Utrecht, one of the major bastions of the Galle Fort, also houses a gunpowder magazine below the lighthouse. Shot in January 2022.

^{*shot on a Canon EOS 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Twilight on the Wall

The southwestern ramparts of the Galle Fort, from the Flagrock Bastion. The unsightly block on the horizon, beyond the Triton Bastion, is the new Oceanfront Condominiums building at Dadalla which, along with the Araliya Resort on Rumassala, blights the view both up and down the coast. Sri Lanka, January 2022.

^{*Shot on a Canon EOS 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

The True God

The Galle Fort’s Triton Bastion was completed by 1790, with a windmill to draw seawater to wash the streets of the Dutch town behind the walls. More recently built stairs now provide access to a tiny triangle of sheltered beach. Sri Lanka, January 2022.

^{*Shot on a Canon EOS 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Morning on the Ramparts #4

The 17th century Galle Fort’s New Gate which faces the modern city of Galle, with the Sun Bastion beyond, and Galle Bay in the distance. Shot from the Moon Bastion in September 2016.

Burg Lichtenberg, Thallichtenberg, Germany

The restored “bergfried” of Lichtenberg stands prominently above Germany’s largest castle ruin. Photographed in summer 2018.

Tour Boats on the Rhein, Koblenz, Germany

On the hill in the background is the 19th century Prussian Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, now a UNESCO heritage site. Summer 2018.

Morning on the Ramparts #7

A panoramic view of Galle Bay, with the harbour in the far distance, from the Moon Bastion of the Galle Fort. In the foreground are the northern ramparts, stretching away to the Sun Bastion which overlooks the bay.

Outer Moat of the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Sri Lanka

Sigiriya is a 200m high flat-topped rock formation in north-central Sri Lanka, with a ruined palace on its summit, and its base surrounded by a water garden, a reservoir, and the remains of a small city that once functioned as the capital of the Anuradhapura Kingdom in the late 5th century. December 2017.

The Akersloot Bastion

Named after the hometown of Admiral Wilhelm Coster, the commander of the Dutch forces that captured Galle from the Portuguese in 1640, the Akersloot Bastion is one of the smaller strongpoints of this fort. The shallow waters and rocky shores at this spot provide a natural defence that didn’t necessitate the higher ramparts that face the open sea. Nevertheless, this bastion covers the approaches to Galle Bay and the harbour, and had seven cannon in position. Immediately behind the strongpoint is the Dutch Hospital, and the Akersloot Bastion was often used as a makeshift mortuary and for post-mortem examinations. The Galle Fort fell to the British in 1796 and, ever since, the bastion has functioned as the harbour master’s residence. It is one of the few portions of the fort’s ramparts that is not open to the public. Visible above the Akersloot Bastion is a breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis), and it is believed to be the first one ever planted on the island of Sri Lanka, by the Dutch. This was shot from the Triton Bastion and, beyond the ramparts, the modern town of Galle can be seen to the north, on the far side of the bay. Sri Lanka, September 2016.

For more on the historic Galle Fort, see my cover story, Climbing the Walls, in the January 2016 issue of Serendib, the inflight magazine of SriLankan Airlines.

6D+EF24-105/4L@24mm,f/11,1/100,ISO100

Posted in conservation, creations, explorations, issues, journalism, landscapes, life, seascapes, tourism, urban, water, waterscapesTagged 24-105mm, 6D, Akersloot Bastion, beach, breadfruit tree, coast, defences, Dutch Colonial architecture, Dutch colonial period, Dutch East India Company, exploration, fortifications, fortress, Galle Bay, Galle Fort, Galle Harbour, historic landmark, history, holiday, Indian Ocean, landscape, legacy, morning, overcast, ramparts, rocks, sea, seascape, seaside, Sri Lanka, stone, travel, vacation, water, waterscape, waves, Wilhelm Coster

Morning at Point Utrecht #2

Named after Utrecht, in the Netherlands, the hometown of the first Dutch Reformed priest to arrive in Galle in 1641, this bastion dominates the approaches to Galle Bay and its harbour. By 1760, it had six cannons installed, and also protected a gunpowder magazine which can still be seen today. The building on the left is the Meeran Jumma Masjid or Mosque, built in 1904 in the style of a Portuguese Baroque cathedral. The lighthouse was erected by the British in 1939, after the original one — the first lighthouse in Sri Lanka, built in 1848 — was destroyed in a fire. The fort itself is a UNESCO heritage site and dates back to original fortifications built by the Portuguese in 1505. It was then captured by the Dutch East India Company in 1640 and extensively expanded and reinforced over the next century. In 1796, the fort was captured by the British 70th Surrey Regiment of Foot under Capt Lachlan Macquarie who would later, as a major general, become the fifth governor of New South Wales. Shot in September 2016 from the Vlagklip Bastion. For more on the Galle Fort, including photographs, see my cover story, Climbing the Walls, in the January 2016 issue of Serendib, the inflight magazine of SriLankan Airlines.

6D+EF24-105/4L@28mm,1/500,f/11,ISO100

Posted in cityscapes, conservation, creations, explorations, issues, journalism, landscapes, life, seascapes, tourism, urban, water, waterscapesTagged 24-105mm, 6D, bastion, British colonial period, Dutch colonial period, exploration, fortress, Galle, Galle Fort, Galle Harbour, history, Indian Ocean, landscape, legacy, lighthouse, Meeran Jumma Masjid, morning, Point Utrecht, Portuguese Baroque architecture, ramparts, sea, seascape, seaside, Sri Lanka, stone, sunrise, tourism, travel, Vlagklip Bastion, walls