Bogambara Prison

Bogambara Prison was a maximum security prison and the second largest prison in the country after Welikada Prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After operating for 138 years, the prison was closed on 1 January 2014, and the inmates were transferred to the new Dumbara prison complex in Pallekele. In 2019, the government declared the prison site would become a cultural tourism centre, the Bogambara Cultural Park.

The grounds of the prison were created by filling in the Bogambara Wewa (an artificial lake) and the buildings were designed by F. Vine of the Public Works Department of Ceylon. The design of the main gate and walls are said to be inspired by the Bastille. The prison occupied a 5.3 ha (13 acres) area, with a three-storey 8,500 m2 (91,000 sq ft) main building containing 382 cells, in which would be held 408 prisoners, and a 840 m2 (9,000 sq ft) prison hospital building to its west. The prison was opened in 1876, and it was used to house serious offenders and death row prisoners.