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Article: Splendors of Sri Lanka: the island's Dutch colonial, heritage shines through at Amangalla, a historic hotel reimagined by Kerry Hill Architects.
- Article from:
- Interior Design
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Like much of Sri Lanka, Galle is a tantalizing blend of myth and history. The coastal city's fort, with its massive stone walls, has enclosed the old town since the Portuguese arrived in the 1500's. The Dutch captured the fort in 1640, hoping to profit from the island's vibrant spice trade. And nowhere else in Sri Lanka is the Dutch influence felt as strongly: from the Great Church, a sober 1752 edifice with a floor paved in gravestones, to the 1669 Old Gate, where a carved coat of arms, the crowing cock of Galle, is inscribed with the initials of the Dutch East India Company. If that isn't enough, scholars have proposed the theory that this Indian Ocean colonial port may ...