The tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka has any administrative capitals, and excluding the most popular capital and financial epicentre of the island, Colombo, one of the most impressive and worthy of a visit is the southern major city of Galle, the administrative capital of the island’s Southern Province. Galle is largely recognised for her coastal beauty and for her rich heritage since many historical sites from the Dutch colonial era are located here. Sitting among all this history, is the Maritime Museum, a truly must-see place if one intends to discover a spectacular section of the island’s history.
The National Maritime Museum sits in close proximity to various popular hotels in Galle, such as the Closenberg Hotel, one of the more luxurious choices of hotels in Galle, Sri Lanka. The museum recently underwent some serious reconstruction after suffering significant damage due to the 2014 tsunami, which resulted in a loss of about 20% of the nearly four thousand priceless artefacts being showcased within. Through the use of a special grant from the Kingdom of Netherlands, the museum was rebuilt and is currently better than ever.
The museum contains a comprehensive and detailed history of maritime Sri Lanka, showcasing boat-models, recovered artefacts from ship-wrecks and various other objects from the not-so distant past of Sri Lanka. One of the most notable exhibits within the museum are the ones showcasing life at certain periods of time in Sri Lanka’s utilising almost eerily realistic mannequins and statues. The museum also seeks to educate visitors on all kinds of factors that concern maritime activities past, present and future. Visitors can even sit through one of many presentations that take place in a specialised hall should they want to learn more about the topic of maritime Sri Lanka.
Be sure to visit this wondrous and eye-opening institution should you find yourself in Southern city of Galle.
Roland Lefevre is a travel writer who specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe.
