Galle ගාල්ල காலி | |
|---|---|
| City of Galle | |
  Galle | |
| Coordinates:06°01′58″N80°12′56″E / 6.03278°N 80.21556°E /6.03278; 80.21556 | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Southern Province |
| Government | |
| • Type | Galle Municipal Council |
| • Mayor | Priyantha G. Sahabandu |
| • Headquarters | Galle Town Hall |
| Area | |
• Total | 16.52 km2 (6.38 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 112,252 |
| • Density | 5,712/km2 (14,790/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Galleans |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone) |
| Postal code | 80000 |
| Area code | 091 |
| Website | galle.mc.gov.lk |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications | |
| Criteria | Cultural: iv |
| Reference | 451 |
| Inscription | 1988 (12thSession) |
Galle (Sinhala:ගාල්ල,romanized: Gālla,IPA:[ɡaːlːə];Tamil:காலி,romanized: Kāli,IPA:[kaːli]) (formerlyFrench:Point de Galle) is a major city on the southwestern tip ofSri Lanka, 119 km (74 mi) south ofColombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city ofSouthern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital ofGalle District.
Galle was known asGimhathiththa[1] before the arrival of thePortuguese in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island.Ibn Batuta, aMoroccanBerber Muslim traveller in the 14th century, referred to it asQali.[2] Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, during theDutch colonial period. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by thePortuguese in South and SoutheastAsia, showing the interaction betweenPortuguesearchitectural styles and native traditions. The city was extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. TheGalle fort is aWorld Heritage Site and is the largest remainingfortress in Asia built by European occupiers.
Other prominentlandmarks in Galle include thecity's natural harbour, theNational Maritime Museum,St. Mary's Cathedral founded byJesuitpriests, one of the mainShiva temples on the island, andAmangalla, the historic luxury hotel. On 26 December 2004, the city was devastated by the massive tsunami caused by the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which occurred off the coast ofIndonesia a thousand miles away. Thousands were killed in the city alone. Galle is home to theGalle International Stadium, which is considered to be one of the most picturesquecricket grounds in the world.[3] The ground, which was severely damaged by the tsunami, was rebuilt andtest matches resumed there on 18 December 2007.
Important natural geographical features in Galle include Rumassala inUnawatuna, a large mound-like hill that forms the eastern protective barrier toGalle Harbour. Local tradition associates this hill with some events ofRamayana, one of the great Hindu epics. The major river in the area is theGin Ganga, which begins from Gongala Kanda, passes villages such as Neluwa, Nagoda,Baddegama,Thelikada and Wakwella, and reaches the sea atGintota. The river is bridged at Wakwella by theWakwella Bridge.
Galle was known asGimhathitha in ancient times. The term is believed to be derived from the classicalSinhalese term meaning "port near the River Gin". It is believed that the town got its name asGaalla in the native tongue as a result of the large number of bullock carts that took shelter in the area, following the long slow journeys from remote areas of the island.Gaala in Sinhala means the place where cattle are herded together; hence the Sinhalese name for Galle, ගාල්ල, is a development fromGaala.[4][5] Another theory is that the wordGalle is derived from the Latin wordgallus or the Portuguese wordgalo, which mean 'rooster'.[citation needed] The Dutch used the rooster as a symbol of Galle.
According toJames Emerson Tennent (Colonial Secretary of Ceylon) Galle was the ancient seaport ofTarshish,[6] from whichKing Solomon drewivory,peacocks and other valuables.Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC, and as the root of the word itself isHebrew, Galle may have been a mainentrepôt for the spice.[7]
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Ancient Greek and Roman geographers may have known about Galle, which they might have called the Cape of Birds. Ptolemy might also have known about the port which he referred to as Odoka. Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Galle (or Qali as he called it) in 1342. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Sinhalese refugees fleeing Tamil armies from the north began to settle in Galle and other nearby areas.[8]
Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country:Persians,Arabs,Greeks,Romans,Malays,Indians, andChinese were doing business through Galle's port. In 1411, theGalle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages,Chinese,Tamil andPersian, was erected in Galle to commemoratethe second visit to Ceylon by the Chinese admiralZheng He. In 1502, a small fleet ofPortuguese ships, under the command ofLourenço de Almeida on their way to theMaldives, were blown off course by a storm. Realising that theKing resided inKotte close toColombo, Lourenço proceeded there after a brief stop in Galle.
In 1640, thePortuguese were forced to surrender to theDutch East India Company. The Dutch built the presentfort in 1663. They built a fortified solid granite wall and three bastions, known as "Sun", "Moon" and "Star".
After theBritish took over the country from the Dutch in 1796, they preserved the fort unchanged and used it as the administrative centre of the district.
Galle features atropical rainforest climate. The city has no truedry season, though it is noticeably drier in the months of January and February. As is commonplace with many cities with this type of climate, temperatures show little variation throughout the course of the year, with average temperatures hovering at around 26 °C (79 °F) throughout.
| Climate data for Galle (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.9 (94.8) | 34.6 (94.3) | 36.4 (97.5) | 35.5 (95.9) | 35.3 (95.5) | 32.6 (90.7) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.2 (88.2) | 33.2 (91.8) | 33.8 (92.8) | 33.5 (92.3) | 36.4 (97.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.9 (85.8) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.4 (88.5) | 30.4 (86.7) | 29.4 (84.9) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.2 (84.6) | 29.4 (84.9) | 29.9 (85.8) | 29.9 (85.8) | 30.0 (86.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.7 (80.1) | 27.2 (81.0) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.7 (74.7) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.3 (77.5) | 26.0 (78.8) | 25.7 (78.3) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.2 (77.4) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 23.7 (74.7) | 24.8 (76.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) | 19.4 (66.9) | 17.1 (62.8) | 18.2 (64.8) | 17.1 (62.8) | 20.7 (69.3) | 20.9 (69.6) | 20.9 (69.6) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.7 (69.3) | 18.1 (64.6) | 18.9 (66.0) | 17.1 (62.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 86.8 (3.42) | 71.1 (2.80) | 89.9 (3.54) | 201.9 (7.95) | 315.9 (12.44) | 184.0 (7.24) | 172.6 (6.80) | 161.9 (6.37) | 260.9 (10.27) | 344.5 (13.56) | 282.6 (11.13) | 175.9 (6.93) | 2,348 (92.44) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.6 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 11.8 | 17.2 | 16.6 | 15.1 | 14.2 | 17.1 | 18.2 | 14.9 | 11.2 | 155.7 |
| Source 1:NOAA[9] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Department of Meteorology (records up to 2007)[10] | |||||||||||||
Galle has twenty wards:[11]
TheGalle Municipal Council governs the City of Galle, established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865. It was at the time, only the third municipal council in the country. The first mayor of the city,Wijeyananda Dahanayake, was appointed in 1939; he later became the fifthPrime Minister of Ceylon.
The last appointed mayor was Methsiri De Silva, who served from 2009 to 2016. The mayoral system has been dissolved the Galle administration, with the city presently administered by a commissioner. The main vision of the city is "Building of moderate city through the supply of relatively increased utility services to the citizens who pay taxes to the Galle Municipal Council". The other vision is to brand Galle as "Green City-Green Galle" to create and promote Galle as one of Sri Lanka's cool and healthy coastal cities with a clean green canopy.[12]
Galle is a sizeable city by Sri Lankan standards, and has a population of 101,749, the majority of whom are ofSinhalese ethnicity, with a large population ofSri Lankan Moor (Muslims), particularly in the fort area, who descend fromArab merchants that settled in the ancient port of Galle and marriedSinhalese women. Galle is also notable for its foreign population, both residents and owners of holiday homes. Religious composition in Galle DS division according to 2012 census is as follows Buddhist-66,840-65.69%,Islam-32,865-32.30%,Roman Catholic-898-0.88%,Hindu-724-0.71%,Other Christian-402-0.40%,Others-20-0.02%.[13]
Galle is home to some of the oldest leading schools in Sri Lanka, with twenty-nine government schools and five international schools constituting the city's educational system. Some of the schools located in Galle city are listed below.
| School | Date of establishment |
|---|---|
| All Saints College | 1867 |
| Anula Devi Balika Vidyalaya | 1941 |
| British College Sri Lanka | 1900 |
| Buona Vista College | 1888 |
| Ceylinco Sussex College | 1997 |
| Galle International College | 2011 |
| Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya | 2007 |
| Kingston International School | 1900 |
| Leeds International School | 2007 |
| Mahinda College | 1892 |
| Malharus Sulhiya National College | 1918 |
| Muslim Ladies College | 2001 |
| Olcott Maha Vidyalaya Galle | 1937 |
| Richmond College | 1876 |
| Rippon Girls' College | 1817 |
| Sacred Heart Convent | 1896 |
| St. Aloysius' College | 1895 |
| Sanghamitta Girls College | 1919 |
| Siridhamma College | 1995 |
| Sudharma College | 1895 |
| Southlands College Galle | 1885 |
| Thomas Gall International School | 2006 |
| Upananda College | 1909 |
| Vidyaloka College | 1941 |
Three main faculties of theUniversity of Ruhuna are located in Galle. TheFaculty of Engineering is located at Hapugala, about 6 km from the city center. The Faculty of Medicine is located at Karapitiya near the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital. The Faculty of Allied Health Sciences of the University of Ruhuna is located in Uluwitike, in the city limits. A study centre of theOpen University of Sri Lanka is also located in Galle, at Labuduwa junction.
The Advanced Technological Institute inLabuduwa, Galle was started in 2000, and it planned to offer Higher National Diploma in Information Technology and Higher National Diploma in Agriculture Technology – HNDT (Agri). Since then, Labuduwa ATI has been a pioneer in technological education in Sri Lanka. TheNational Institute of Business Management in Galle was established in 2010 to provide higher education opportunities in the fields of information technology and business management. The Ruhunu National College of Education, operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, trains teachers training for government schools in Kurunduwatta, Galle. Additionally, the Amarasuriya Teachers' Training College for government school teachers is in Unawatuna, Galle.
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Galle is served bySri Lanka Railways'Coastal Line and is connected by rail to Colombo andMatara.Galle Railway Station is a major station on the line and serves as the meeting point of the west- and south-coast segments of the line.[14] TheA2 highway, which is commonly known as the Galle Road, runs through the city and connects Galle to Colombo by the west-coast portion, and toHambanthota by the south-coast portion.TheSouthern Expressway, Sri Lanka's first E Class highway, links the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with Galle and currently reduces the time spent for travel to one hour from the three hours taken by the regular A2 highway.
Galle is twinned with:[15]
Velsen, Netherlands
Galle travel guide from WikivoyageProvincial capitals of Sri Lanka | ||
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