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Rang

The white fort town

Galle

A walled colonial town on Sri Lanka's south coast, with white churches, a white lighthouse and ochre villas.

Rampart and Meeran Jumma Mosque in the Dutch Fort of Galle, Sri Lanka
Photo: A.Savin, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Galle is limewash white

Galle Fort stands on a rocky headland at the south-west corner of Sri Lanka. The Portuguese built the first fort in the 16th century, and the Dutch enlarged it greatly from the middle of the 17th, adding ramparts of granite and coral. Inside the walls is a grid of low houses with deep verandas and tiled roofs. Most are limewashed white or a soft ochre, which suits the strong light and the salt air. The Dutch Reformed Church, the mosque by the ramparts and the lighthouse are all white. The fort has been a World Heritage Site since 1988. Its walls protected the old town from the worst of the 2004 tsunami.

Limewash white#F4F1E8Rampart grey#7D7A74Ochre wall#D9A950Roof terracotta#B5583ASea turquoise#3FA7A3

Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.

Colours tied to Galle

WhiteThe lightest colour, seen in snow, milk and chalk, and opposite to black
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Galle" on Wikipedia. If you know Galle and we have it wrong, tell us.

More colour cities

All colour cities
🇱🇰 City of the Red MosqueColomboIn the crowded Pettah market a mosque striped and checked in red and white stands out on every side.🇮🇳 The White CityUdaipurWhite palaces and whitewashed houses stand around lakes in the Aravalli hills of southern Rajasthan.🇮🇳 Kolam white and Madras checksChennaiWhite kolam drawings at each doorstep, yellow autorickshaws, red colonial brick and painted temple towers.🇮🇳 Fine florals on whiteSanganerA printing town on the edge of Jaipur, known for delicate flower motifs on a white ground.🇮🇳 City of the Taj MahalAgraThe white marble of the Taj Mahal shifts from pink at dawn to gold at dusk, beside forts of red sandstone.🇧🇹 Valley of white fortresses and red chilliesParoWhite-walled monasteries with a red band under the roof stand above rice fields in a Himalayan valley.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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