Old photos of Galle

Galle, on the south-western coast of Sri Lanka, was a trading port visited by Arab, Persian and Chinese merchants long before Europeans arrived; a trilingual stone inscription left by the Chinese admiral Zheng He in the early 15th century was found here. The Portuguese landed in the early 16th century and built the first fortifications. The Dutch captured Galle in 1640 and over the following decades built the massive ramparts and bastions that still enclose the old town, making it the best-preserved European fortified city in South and South-East Asia.

Within the walls the Dutch laid out a grid of streets with a Reformed church, warehouses, a hospital and merchants' houses with verandas and tiled roofs. The British took over in 1796, and Galle remained the island's main port until Colombo's harbour was developed in the late 19th century, after which the fort settled into a quiet administrative and residential town. The Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. The town was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, though the fort walls protected much of the old quarter.

Old photographs of Galle typically show the ramparts and lighthouse, the harbour with sailing ships, the Dutch church and clock tower, and quiet streets of colonnaded colonial houses.

What the photos show

The 300 photographs of Galle on PlaceWas span 8 decades, from 1867 to 2025. 6 of them were taken before 1980; the other 294 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.40 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.299 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.