Galle Dutch Fort Galle Dutch Fort

加勒堡(又称荷兰堡)是葡萄牙人最早在斯里兰卡西南海岸建造的防御工事。最初的防御工事建于16世纪后期,非常基本。然而,荷兰人在 17 世纪对这座堡垒进行了大规模的修改,使其成为最重要的考古、建筑和历史古迹之一,可以说明欧洲在 16 至 19 世纪间在东南亚的影响。根据联合国教科文组织的一份声明,该遗址因其对城市建筑群的独特展示而被公认为世界遗产,该建筑群展示了16至19世纪欧洲建筑与南亚传统的相互作用,这是这种认可的第四个标准。

斯里兰卡加勒堡的历史

  • 加勒的最早记录可以追溯到公元2世纪托勒密世界地图上提到加勒的记录。
  • 据说这是一个繁忙的港口贸易,与当时的一些大国如希腊、阿拉伯和中国。
  • 6世纪旅行者Cosmas Indicopleustes的记录中也提到加勒是黎凡特号船访问斯里兰卡期间的停靠港。
  • 另一位历史上著名的旅行者伊本·巴图塔(Ibn Batuta)生活在14世纪,他也提到,他在参观斯里帕达和特纳瓦拉姆神庙时曾经过港口,这两个神庙当时是斯里兰卡最著名的景点。
  • 加勒是葡萄牙人在 1505 年首次登陆斯里兰卡的未知土地时首次登陆的地方。
  • 他们利用与当时之王的联盟,在该地区做出了显著的改变;这包括最初的堡垒建造以及1541年建造的方济各会教堂。(今天仍然可以看到教堂的废墟)
  • 最初被称为 “圣克鲁斯” 的小堡垒是用泥树和棕榈树建造的;后来扩建了堡垒、瞭望塔和三个堡垒。
  • 随着影响力的增加,葡萄牙人移居科伦坡,但在1588年他们的科伦坡基地遭到西塔瓦坎国王拉贾·辛哈一世(1581 — 1593)袭击时,他们不得不返回加勒。
  • 在后来的几年里,当反对他们的反对越来越多时,他们将堡垒用作监狱集中营。
  • 这座堡垒在荷兰人与当时的僧伽罗国王拉贾·辛哈二世一起联合进攻后落入了他们的手中。

About Galle District

Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo.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 occupiers.

Galle is a sizeable town, by Sri Lankan standards, and has a population of 91,000, the majority of whom are of Sinhalese ethnicity. There is also a large Sri Lankan Moor minority, particularly in the fort area, which descend from Arab merchants that settled in the ancient port of Galle.

About Southern Province

The Southern Province of Sri Lanka is a small geographic area consisting of the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Subsistence farming and fishing is the main source of income for the vast majority of the people of this region.

Important landmarks of the Southern Province include the wildlife sanctuaries of the Yala and Udawalawe National Parks, the holy city of Kataragama, and the ancient cities of Tissamaharama, Kirinda and Galle. (Although Galle is an ancient city, almost nothing survives from before the Portuguese invasion.) During the Portuguese period there were two famous Sinhalese poets called Andare who was from Dickwella and Gajaman Nona who was from Denipitiya in Matara District, composing poems on common man.