[2][3][4] The Sri Lankan government and many Dutch people who still own some of the properties inside the fort are looking at making this one of the modern wonders of the world.

[2] Galle’s earliest historical existence is traced to Ptolemy’s world map of 125–150 CE when it was a busy port, trading with Greece, Arab countries, China and others.

[3][6] In 1640, the events took a turn with the Dutch entering the fray and joining hands with King Rajasinhe II to capture the Galle Fort.

Although not an ideal situation for the Sinhalese, they were instrumental in building the fort as seen in its present form in the Dutch architectural style.

A Protestant church (planned by Abraham Anthonisz) was also built in baroque style in 1775 to cater to the colonists and the local people who were converted to Christianity.

Other buildings erected in the fort catered to trade and defense requirements such as workshops for carpentry, smithy, rope making, and so forth.

[3][7] The importance of Galle also declined after the British developed Colombo as their capital and main port in the mid nineteenth century.

[3][5][9] More than half of the inhabitants inside the fort are Moor, with Sinhalese, Dutch, English, Portuguese and German settlers.

[2][5] The fort area is occupied by mostly artists, writers, photographers, designers and poets of foreign origin and is now a mixed bag of boutiques, hotels and restaurants.

[5] The fort, originally built by the Portuguese in the 16th century to defend Galle, was an earthen structure with pallisades covering the northern inland side with a rampart and three bastions.

[4] When the fort came under the control of the Dutch, they considered the old fortifications built by the Portuguese unsafe as they were made of earth and palisades.

Hence, the Dutch decided to fully encircle the entire peninsula by building impregnable fortifications as defense against other colonial agencies in the region.

Above the entrance there was an emblem of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, the Dutch East India Company): A relief with a rooster on a rock above a shield with the letters 'VOC', flanked by two lions.

[11] This British Royal coat of arms shows the English lion and the Scottish unicorn holding a round shield with four symbols of the different parts of the United Kingdom.

The edge of the shield is adorned with a garter bearing the motto 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' (Shame to him who evil thinks).

Further along the fort walls is the Triton Bastion where a windmill drew water from the sea to sprinkle the dusty roads of the town; it is also a view point to watch sunsets.

[13] The urban area within the fort has a rectangular grid pattern of streets full of low houses with gables and verandahs in the Dutch colonial style.

[14] It is believed that the Dutch introduced breadfruit which is of ‘heaty’ nature hoping that would either kill the local population or make them sick.

Following the disaster caused by the Tsunami of 2004 when many buildings were damaged, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs launched a project for renovation and reconstruction, but paying attention to the former architecture to retain a historical feel.

[16] Very many of the old town houses have been bought up by expatriates and rich Sri Lankans and Indians and renovated as holiday homes.

The National Maritime Museum in Galle Fort area, near the old gate, was established in 1997 as an exclusive Maritime Archaeology Centre with active involvement of the Government of the Netherlands in the project in view of the findings that the Galle Harbour consisted of over 21 historical shipwreck sites and associated artifacts.