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| Colombo
Travel Guide |
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"The
Emerald Island”
Colombo is situated on Sri Lanka's west coast with
a population of between 800,000 and one million, which is by far the country's
biggest city. Colombo has natural harbour located at the mouth of the Kelani River
which was the attraction for consecutive traders and conquerors - first
Arab merchants, then Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialists.
Colombo
may not have the historical and cultural atmosphere of Kandy or
the scenic beauty of Hikkaduwa, but it is a good place to start
a Sri Lankan discovery. The city has its history and its beautiful
places. It is the seat of government and the home of most businesses.
In many ways it is the commercial and political heart of Sri Lanka.
Colombo is a jarring combination of old and new, with a group of high-rise
office blocks and hotels overshadowing red-tiled colonial-era buildings
and sprawling street markets which overflow with
high piled fruit and vegetables, colourful cottons and silks, and
fragrant spices.
On its busy streets are places of worship, a symbol of the country's multi-ethnic heritage. The tasteful Buddhist viharas
are located close to
attractive
temples encrusted with Hindu statuary, and
Muslim mosques with slender minarets.
The city's
streets are filled with life during the day when its population
is swollen by some 400,000 commuting workers, become nearly empty
after nightfall, with little nightlife outside
a handful of international hotels.
During the day colombo's colourful street markets, colonial-era buildings,
museums and galleries, mosques, churches and temples, and the charming Viharamahadevi Park make it an
excellent place to reach on foot.
In the beginning, Colombo named Kolomtota and was the major
seaport of Kotte, Sri Lanka's 15th- and 16th-century capital.
It was known to Arab traders as Kalamba. The city attracted the
Portuguese as early as 1505 and became the bastion of their rule
for almost 150 years. Little remains to prove this era, aside
from a few Portuguese surnames in the telephone directory and a
cluster of Roman Catholic churches and seminaries. Nor of the Dutch
who forced the Portuguese to leave in the mid-17th century.
The central part of the capital is still known
as Fort, but the remains of the colonial battlements
have long since been incorporated in newer buildings or demolished.
There are more mementoes of the British period, such as the neo-Classical
old parliament building, the Victorian-era President's
House (often called 'Queen's House'), and the grand mercantile
brick facade of Cargill's, a 19th-century shopping mall that has changed little since the heyday of the country's British
tea planters. |
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