is Gin River (Gin Ganga) which starts from Gongala Kanda and passing villages such as Neluwa, Nagoda, Baddegama, Thelikada, Wakwella and kisses the sea at Ginthota. In Wakwella over the river there is Wakwella Bridge which is the longest bridge in Sri Lanka. 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.
Other prominent landmarks in Galle include St. Mary's Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests, one of the main Shiva temples on the island, and The Amangalla, a historic luxury hotel.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, rebuilt after the 2004 tsunami. Test matches resumed there on December 18, 2007.
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.
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 a main entrepot for the spice.
Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians, and Chinese were doing business through Galle port. In 1411, the Galle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, was erected in Galle to commemorate the second visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese admiral Zheng He.
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.
New Galle Mayor is Mr. Methsiri de Silva, appointed 2008.12.04.
Some beautiful places in Galle
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, who descend from Arab merchants that settled in the ancient port of Galle.
| Ethnicity | Population | % Of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Sinhalese | 66,114 | 72.71 |
| Sri Lankan Moors | 23,234 | 25.56 |
| Sri Lankan Tamils | 989 | 1.09 |
| Indian Tamils | 255 | 0.28 |
| Other (including Burgher, Malay) | 342 | 0.38 |
| Total | 90,934 | 100 |
Culture
The most notable regular cultural even in Galle is the annual Galle Literary Festival, and English language festival that attracts world famous authors.
Universities
Two main faculties of University of Ruhuna are located in Galle. Faculty of Engineering is located at Hapugala about 5 km from the city center. The faculty of Medicine is located at Karapitiya near the Karapitiya Hospital.
- Faculty Of Engineering visit
- Faculty of Medicine visit
Higher Education InstitutesLabuduwa Advanced Technological Institute was Started in year 2000 and it was planned to offer Higher national Diploma in Information Technology(HNDIT), Higher National Diploma in Technology (Agriculture) HNDT(Agri),and Higher National Diploma in Engineeering (HNDE).Since then Labuduwa ATI has been the pioneer in technological education in SriLanka
- HNDIT -Labuduwa ATI [visit:http://www.hndit.lk]
- HNDT(Agri)-Labuduwa ATI
