The old town of Galle is an archeological reserve and has got the rank of the world heritage site

Galle was built as a fortified coastal city with large walls along the seashore.
It was designed with a European way of thinking - that attacks from colonial competitors could come from the sea as well as the land.
It started with the Portuguese in the 1588 and, at that time, the land borders of Galle were the most important sides to be protected because the biggest threat was from the locals.
The Portuguese built the town itself in the style of their homeland with churches as the most important buildings in the new settlement.
Galle fell to the Dutch in 1640 and the walls along the sea were fortified at this point. The French, the English, the Danish, the Spanish and the Portuguese were all vying for supremacy of the seas in this part of the world. An assault could come at any moment from one of the nations looking for a new stronghold in South Asia.
The settlement that the Dutch built inside the walls is what mainly remains today. The grid layout with wide roads and low buildings is reminiscent of the architecture in Holland and the time.
At its peak under the Dutch, Galle was home to about 500 families. It had public buildings, administration centres, warehouses and churches.
There were also military facilities like barracks and weapons factories. After all, this was primarily a stronghold for Europeans in a strange land a long way from home.
Galle was handed over to the British in 1796 and they proceeded to make a number of changes to the city. Nothing fundamental, but some building and gates were added and a tower was erected to celebrate the jubilee of Queen Victoria.
These changes are still part of the city today.
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