The Galle Fort: Its Southern Rampart ‘Fronts’ Multi-faceted Ambience

Michael Roberts

As I walked along the Galle Fort’s ramparts on several occasions in early April this year 2023, not only did pleasant memories flood back: the intriguing present lay before me (literally in some cases) …;

while a regular ‘little tide’ of tourists (perhaps Ukrainian or Russian?) passed me every now and then. The ambience and power of setting and nostalgia enveloped me at every stage. As a youngster the ramparts were not my only passageway. The rocks at the bottom edge of the walls and/or the sea provided adventurous routes this way or that…. familair routes because one knew where the thorny corals and dangerous spots were.

But, let the pictures from today SPEAK.  Rampart Street with its mosque to the left of the walls; and …