Colombo & the Western Coast

Heritage places

Places to see in this region

Old Colombo Lighthouse: Clock Tower That Guided Ships

Colombo Clock Tower

Colombo & the Western Coast

Mount Mary Railway Quarters: Colombo’s Little England

The Mount Mary Railway Quarters

Colombo & the Western Coast

Kalpitiya Dutch Fort

Colombo & the Western Coast

Colombo Fort

Colombo & the Western Coast

Open planner

Old Ceylon stories

Stories from this region

The Old Colombo Lighthouse: When a Clock Tower Guided Ships Home

Story

Old Colombo Lighthouse| There are landmarks in Colombo that we notice without really seeing. We pass them in traffic, glimpse them between office building…

De Soysa Charitaya: Charles Henry de Soysa’s Ceylon

Glimpses into the World of Old Ceylon s philonthropist Charles Henry de Soysa

Story

More Than an Old Biography Some journeys into old Ceylon begin not with a railway station, a colonial hotel or a forgotten road, but with the opening of a…

John Maitland and a Forgotten Corner of Old Colombo

Story

John Maitland in Old Colombo| Every now and then, a name surfaces from old Ceylon that sends you looking in several directions at once. John Maitland is o…

Wellawatte Canal: Layards Folly in Old Colombo

Wellawatte Canal and Layards Folly: A Forgotten Waterway of Old Colombo

Story

A Quiet Postcard from Old Colombo An old Ceylon postcard titled “Wellawatte Canal and Bridge – Colombo – Old Ceylon Vintage Postcard” captures a calm scen…

Kandy in 1952: Rare Footage of Old Ceylon

Kandy in 1952: Recalling a Gentler Age in Old Ceylon

Story

Kandy in 1952: A City Moving at a Gentler Pace A bullock cart moves slowly across a broad street. Men in light-coloured clothing walk beneath the shade of…